Homemade Yogurt

I've been reading SO MUCH lately about those women that are doing the modern homesteading. So interesting. I was reading through a recipe for homemade yogurt this evening. I bookmarked it to try later this week. Looks really good. Maintaining the temperature and keeping drafts away would be my two biggest issues with making it. But, doesn't hurt to try. I hear it's delicious. 

I also learned that it costs about the same amount to keep several goats as it does to keep one cow. You can get the same from both animals - milk, cheese, etc. Interesting. AND, you can keep up to like 200 rabbits in a 50x100 ft pen. Didn't know that , did ya? Hehe. I just can't wait to get out of this townhouse and have our own yard to plant whatever we want. I have my one indoor chive plant this winter, but that's it. A real outdoor garden in the spring/summer/fall would be awesome. I'm very jealous of my parents' garden each summer. :)

Church was great today. Of course, I had a coughing fit during the service and had to excuse myself for a bit. :) But, the message was great. I learned some great things about worship and what it includes (not just the singing) - things I already knew but tend to forget and just think of worship as singing. It was a really good reminder of a worshipful lifestyle.

This morning I put 3 chicken quarters in the crockpot, just covered with water, and let it cook for 8 hours with celery and onion. Then I threw in carrots and rice and let it cook for another 30 minutes. I de-boned the chicken and then threw in a couple potatoes and cooked for another 30 minutes. Viola! Homemade chicken rice soup. I didn't drain the fat from the homemade stock, so it was a little greasy but soooo good. Lots of leftovers. I was loving how much chicken came off those 3 quarters. I like lots of chicken in my soups. 

I also made some buttermilk biscuits and instead of just rolling it out and cutting them into biscuit circles, I used my heart-shaped cookie cutter and made heart biscuits. :) They were so cute! The girls really like them. Iris broke hers in half and said "hey, look! i broke my heart." LOL. 

On a totally unrelated note, I read some sad things about Dominick's stores today. There's a rumor that they no longer accept expired coupons. Dominick's is where I saved the most on stock-up foods, so I'm bummed if this turns out to be true. :( Good thing I'm all stocked up! People on facebook are getting vicious, though, with their comments to Dominick's and Safeway about it. I can imagine that it'd be very frustrating to plan out the trip to the store with your coupons and list, then get there and all your expired ones are no longer accepted, without any previous notice. There are no signs posted; apparently, their new cash registers only read the new barcodes on the coupons printed after a certain date and don't accept the old barcodes. That stinks. 

I'm watching the halftime show for the Superbowl right now. The extras on the field doing all the movements and light show are really cool. I'm not a huge Black-Eyed Peas fan, but it's an entertaining show because of the Extras. 

Time to get the girls in pajamas, teeth brushed, Addy's eye drops done, and suck on a cough drop. Ugh. My throat is starting to hurt again. I hate winter time colds. :( Especially while pregnant...makes my stomach muscles hurt even more when I cough. Grrrr.