It's RECESSION WEDNESDAY!!!

It's RECESSION WEDNESDAY!!  The day we embrace the challenges of the economic mud puddle we're in and use innovation to make us stronger, happier and more resilient in the long run.  It's the time to turn to hearth and home and especially to ourselves and make some changes in the way we live and think.  

Save water, save money and help conserve our planet's water!  I was boiling an egg for breakfast this morning and normally I would just dump the water down the drain when I'm cleaning up from breakfast.  Then it occurred to me that this water is useful for something else, why waste it?  So I decided to take a glass milk jug, put it next to the sink and pour any water that (is clean) I would normally send down the drain and use it when I need to rinse dishes, water flowers and plants, need water for cleaning up child related stickiness etc etc.  I would love to hear any other uses you all can come up with!  

But ... Recession Fun can't be all work and no play, or we'd never get anything done (I don't know about you, but I need a balance in my life!).  And that is why I'd like to introduce you to my new favorite game:  MAHJONGG!

Although the initial investment isn't cheap (they range in price from $29.99 to $100ish, click here for the nicest games I've come across and the best prices), it will provide you with a lifetime of fun and family bonding!  We played compulsively all afternoon on Easter and I must say that the tiles made such a satisfying click-y noise as we played, the competition was fierce and the tea was hot ... So my Recession Entertainment idea is this:  Host a weekly Mahjongg game at your home!  Offer tea and even cookies if you want to (better yet, your leftover Easter candy), but you probably will be so engaged in the game you'll forget to eat the cookies.  It's the perfect alternative to going out to dinner, buying $$$ clothes for fancy dinner, the $$$ drinks before hand if that's what you're into and what's more, you're that much closer to your bed at the end of the evening!  Not to mention you're keeping one more car off the road and conserving gas.  What's not to love?

I have been remiss in not giving you a daily recipe ... here is one that keeps on giving, a recession recipe if there ever was one.

Make Your Own Yogurt! 

(without buying a yogurt maker - please, if the Bedouins could do it for centuries out of a Yurt, then so can you!)

1 Quart milk (can be skim, 2%, Whole, whatever you have)

2 TB yogurt or a packet of yogurt culture (you can get at most groceries, I've used Yogourmet with success  but there are lots out there and I encourage you to be bold and try them.

1/4 to 1/2 C. dried or powdered milk (Optional)

I am deliberately being general with temperatures in some places because I don't want you to obsess over this.  Just try it!  Don't worry so much about being perfect!  Just let the yogurt happen and channel your inner Nomad.  This is how I do it:

Pour milk into microwave safe container, I use an 8 Cup Pyrex measuring thingy which works well.  Microwave for about 5 minutes.  The idea is to heat the milk enough to kill the existing bacteria so they don't compete with the happy and beneficial yogurt bacteria.

Let the milk cool to a little warmer than body temp (inside of wrist is good indicator).  Ideal temp for yogurt culture to thrive is around 112 F ish.  Pour in yogurt starter or add the 2TB yogurt.  It is recommended that you take a little of the warm milk out and mix the starter in with it so when you pour it back in, the starter is dispersed throughout and not clumpy (which results in clumpy yogurt).  If you are using the dried/powdered milk, add this now.  The dried milk adds a protein boost to the yogurt and helps to thicken it.

At this point, I set my oven to 107F and pour the milk-starter mixture into a Le Creuset pot but any non-reactive pot will do.  I pop it in the oven and leave it overnight and I have yogurt in the morning!  It's really that simple!  The yellowy-greeny-liquidy stuff you may see when you spoon out your yogurt is none-other than whey, of Little Miss Muffet fame!  Whey looks icky, but it has lots of B vitamins and other good stuff so I recommend you mix it in and slurp it down.  You can also strain your yogurt for that great, thick style yogurt (like Fage) that is so delicious.  I just line a colander with a linen dishtowel (the older and thinner the better, but cheesecloth is too porous) and set it in a pie plate.  Pour the yogurt into the lined colander and check back in a few hours.  Should be nice and thick - refrigeration will also thicken the yogurt.

Please don't be afraid to try this!  You will feel so pioneer-little-house-on-the-prairie chic and super healthy.  If you don't like plain yogurt, try steeping a vanilla bean in the milk when you're heating it.  Or you can drizzle and mix with any number of toppings once in your bowl.  Enjoy!!