Monday Q&A-Yogurt and SuperWoman (or not)

Thick Yogurt

Several of you have asked about how to make thick yogurt. Homemade yogurt will never be as thick as something like the Yoplait custard yogurt since that type of yogurt typically has gelatin or some other sort of thickener added.

Homemade yogurt is nothing but milk and yogurt culture, so it’s naturally going to be a bit runnier than the commercial stuff.

I always use whole milk to make my yogurt, and it turns out fairly thick. As you can see in the following picture, it’s stiff enough to stay in the jar when I tip it on its side.

Here’s what it looks like when it’s first spooned out. If you stir it or let it sit for a little while, it gets runnier than this, but it’s decently thick to start with.

When I get milk straight from the farm and use it to make yogurt, the yogurt is a lot thicker even than this. That could be because there’s more cream in that milk, or it could be because the yogurt cultures fare better in milk that is not pasteurized.

At any rate, I highly recommend using whole milk when you make yogurt. You’ll end up with a thicker and milder-tasting product, and honestly, I wouldn’t stress terribly about the milkfat. I think a plain whole milk yogurt is far less detrimental to your health than a cup of artificially sweetened, artificially thickened, low-fat “healthy” yogurt.

If you are dead set on trying to make thick low-fat yogurt, you might experiment around with adding some powdered milk. I’ve not personally done this, but I’m sure there’s info to be had on the web. Readers, if you have some experience making low-fat yogurt, feel free to chime in.

Super Mom?

Eva wrote this email to me:

I have to say that after reading your blog for just over a week on a daily basis, I’m inspired and amazed by all that you do while home schooling and managing a household of six! Super woman!

Anyway, my question is, what is your daily schedule like? How do you keep track of all that you have to do? And do you ever feel tired, overwhelmed, frustrated, etc? If and when you do, how do you cope? What keeps you so motivated every day of the week? Sometimes, do you just wish you had a moment to yourself?

Um, while I’m flattered to be called Super Woman (that makes me feel like I need a cape. Move over, Coin Girl.), I should make sure that you all know that I am most certainly not extraordinary (except maybe to my husband and children!).

I don’t do everything perfectly, I don’t get everything done, and there are a lot of people out there who do many things better than I do.

In my years on the internet (I’ve been a message board member since 2002), I’ve learned that it’s easy to inadvertently come across as more amazing/organized/super than you really are.

People online can’t see my faults and inadequacies as easily as people in real life can, but that’s hard for me to remember.

It’s easy to forget that you don’t see my piles of laundry, my dusty piano, and my unfiled papers because I see them.

It’s easy to forget that you don’t see me when I forget to defrost something for dinner or when my shower starts to grow pink mold because I can see all of that.

I don’t want you all to think I am better than I am, so I do strive to be transparent when I write, but I probably haven’t succeeded as well as I could have. Perhaps you’d like to see my shower mold? 😉

You all have been very interested in my daily routines and time management ideas, though, so in spite of the fact that I am imperfect at all of that, I do want to oblige you and blog on those topics. Unfortunately, I haven’t found the time yet (speaking of imperfections….).

It’s coming, though. I promise. I’m hoping to get some time this summer to write some posts about that.

However, I can certainly answer the question about being tired, overwhelmed, and frustrated. Yes, yes, yes, I feel that way sometimes! The needs and demands of four children (although that’s getting better as they get older), the mess that seems to be all over my house despite my efforts to the contrary, the stress of trying to live on a not-very-high income, the stress of having to work part-time, yeah, that all adds up.

I do have a number of things in place in my life to help me deal with stress and to help me decompress, though, and here’s a little list of them:

• I get up in the morning before my family, so that I can exercise, shower, and read my Bible and pray before they all need me.

• I try very hard to get 8 hours of sleep whenever possible. I’m much better at serving my family when I’m not exhausted.

• I put my children to bed fairly early. Joshua doesn’t go to sleep as early as the girls, but when they go to bed, he goes and spends time reading or playing quietly in his room so that I have some peace and quiet.

There are more too, but I’ll share those when I post in more detail about my routines and such. For today, though, I just wanted to be sure that you knew that I don’t float through my life in a state of constant serenity.