Cowboy's Backyard Movie Birthday

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Back in May, I saw an article full of fun ideas for summer. One idea was renting a projector for the weekend and watching a movie in your backyard. Knowing Cowboy's love of the outdoors, of John Wayne and of going to the drive-in, I thought, "Perfect! That's what I'll do for his birthday party."


I kept it a secret until a few weeks before his birthday, whereas I had long before realized how expensive it is to rent a projector and screen for the weekend. (Like several hundred dollars, which was definitely not in my price range. And further, why wouldn't you just invest your money and buy one? It would pay for itself in just a few uses...) After doing some research, I realized that I could buy a fairly inexpensive projector (and I knew I could find a way to rig up a white sheet for a screen), but I couldn't spend $100 (or more) without first bringing my husband into the decision. After thinking on this, I realized that my dad probably owned one for the seminars he gives every few months for his business. Bingo! Dad had one (top of the line...and a screen, too!) and he agreed to let us borrow it for the night!


So, since that part was figured out, I stocked up on bags of popcorn, boxes of candy, drinks, and moved the microwave to a table in the back yard.



On another table, I had stacked blankets for people to sit on in case they hadn't brought a chair (which had been suggested as we only have six outdoor chairs). Over that area, which people first met as they entered the back yard, we hung outdoor lights so that people could retrieve snacks and get around once it was dark. (Sidenote: am I the only person who goes completely ga-ga over outdoor night lighting? Those strings of bulbs make me practically giddy.)


And it all turned out exactly like I had envisioned (except that the Olympic opening ceremony happened to be on the same night, meaning we missed the last half and that a few people felt torn between the two events and ended up staying inside of our house for the first half of the movie. Oops!)

Happy birthday to the love of my life, my best friend, the excitement in my mundane, the other half I never knew I was missing. Life and our few months of marriage together has been 10 times more incredible and 100 times different than I ever expected it to be! Thank you for putting up with my craziness, my determination and my need to "know" things in advance. You love me fiercely and exactly how I need to be loved and I can never thank you enough for that!

How to: Make Greek Yogurt

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I've been making my own greek yogurt for almost a year now. I make a new batch every week, so I always have it on hand for breakfast (with homemade granola, yum!) or can use it as a base for dips, sauces, soups, smoothies, etc. I love having it...especially since I know it's as pure as the milk I use and it only costs as much as a half-gallon of milk. I've had a myriad of friends and family ask me how it's done, so after sharing it via e-mails and facebook messages, I decided I should just post it here and share it with all! 
You'll need:

• 8-cup glass bowl (Pyrex makes an 8-cup batter bowl with a lid--it works perfectly for this if you have one)
• 8 cups (half-gallon) of milk of your choice (I prefer 2% because it doesn't taste sour and is creamier, but you can do skim milk and you end up with 0% fat yogurt)
• kitchen thermometer that goes up to at least 180 degrees
• fine-mesh metal strainer (the bigger the weave of your strainer, the more milk solids will slip through, which you don't want)
• 1 Tbs. of plain yogurt (store-bought or you can use some from your last batch, once you get started, if it's less than a week old)

Start by pouring the milk into your glass bowl. It's not necessary to cover it, but I place the lid over the bowl (I don't push it down and seal it) so that it heats up faster. (You can heat your milk over the stove, but you have to continually stir it, so I just like to put mine in the microwave and leave it.) Regardless of how you heat your milk, heat it to 180 degrees. This takes 13 minutes in my microwave, but microwaves can vary a lot, so you'll have to check yours every couple of minutes the first time to make sure you're not over-heating it...then, once you know, you know. You are denaturing the proteins in the milk, which opens them up to grow live cultures later in the process. 

Once it reaches 180, let it cool back down on your counter to 110-120 degrees. 

*Note: while your milk is cooling, it will likely develop a "skin" on the surface. Don't mix this in or else you'll have small pieces of it in your yogurt. Rather, just pull it to the side and scoop it off with a a spoon.

Stir in your Tbs. of yogurt--this is your live culture starter, so if the temp is above 120 degrees, you will effectively kill the culture and have to start all over. 

Now, you need to incubate it for 12-14 hours. I've done this in both the crock pot and in the oven and the oven works best for me. You need to keep it around 100-110 degrees the whole time, so that the bacteria can grow. Some ovens can be set as low as 100, mine cannot, so I place the lid back on my bowl, wrap it in a towel (not pictured), turn the oven on for 60 seconds to take the chill off, turn it off, turn the oven light on, place my bowl right in front of the oven light and close the oven for 12-14 hours. The light should keep it warm enough. (I always start my yogurt the day before and then it can just hang out overnight, so I don't run the risk of needing my oven for something.)

Once it's done incubating, it will be like one gelatinous solid (there will probably be some clear-yellowish liquid hanging out on top--that's whey). If you just want yogurt, stop now--you have yogurt. If you want greek yogurt, proceed to strain off the whey, which is what makes greek yogurt so thick. 
Place your strainer inside of a bowl if you want to keep the whey (you can use it to make ricotta or, my favorite use, I substitute it for water in my whole-wheat bread recipes and it keeps the bread from becoming too dense!), otherwise just place it in the sink and pour your yogurt in. Try not to let it splash into the strainer, but pour it gently. Let it strain for an hour. 

Once it's done straining, pour the yogurt into a bowl, letting it "fall" out of the strainer on its own...if you use a spatula to scrape it off, you will essentially scrape some of it through the strainer. 

(I pour my whey into a mason jar and refrigerate it until I'm ready to make bread!) 

Now you'll whisk the yogurt until it's smooth. Refrigerate it and once it's cold, it's all ready for you to add fruit, granola, honey, etc. or just eat it plain (or use it in recipes). It is SO handy to always have it in the fridge!


It sounds like an involved process, but once you do it, you'll realize that your actual hands-on time is really minimal. If you've read all the way through this, you'll have no problem. If you let yours incubate over night and think through having time to strain it when it's done, it will be really simple to incorporate it into your weekly routine and you'll be saving yourself a lot of money and will have pure greek yogurt!
Enjoy!

Chili- and Lime-Rubbed Chicken and Grill-Caramelized Broccoli

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Tonight we had THE MOST delicious dinner. And, to make it [approximately] 12,385 times better, it was super easy and fast. On top of that, once I looked at the recipe list, I realized I already had all of the ingredients. And I hadn't made it to the grocery store yet this week (I only stock the basics), so that's saying something. So, while I don't normally regurgitate recipes other blogs post, this one is worth it so that all of you see it!

Chili- and Lime-Rubbed Chicken Breasts (originally posted on Gluten Freely)

• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated lime peel
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 lb)
• 2 teaspoons olive or canola oil

1. Heat gas or charcoal grill. In small bowl, mix chili powder, brown sugar, lime peel, salt, garlic powder and ground red pepper. Rub both sides of chicken with oil, then with spice mixture.
2. Place chicken on grill over medium heat. Cover grill; cook 10 to 15 minutes, turning once or twice, until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170°F).

*MYU Notes: I squeezed fresh lime juice over the chicken as soon as we pulled them off of the grill, which really enhanced the lime flavor (obviously) and complemented the 'kick' from the spices. As grilling season leaves us, I'm also going to try baking this. I have no doubt that it would be great out of the oven, too!

Grill-Caramelized Broccoli Florets

This is something I just threw together to go with the chicken and, again, is super easy. I took a sheet of foil, folded up the sides and pinched the corners together to make a sort of rectangular bowl. I laid a few pats of butter on the bottom, dropped in the freshly-sliced broccoli florets, topped with a couple more pats of butter and sprinkled on some greek seasoning (though you can use any type of seasoning you'd like...even salt and pepper would be delicious!). I placed the whole thing on the grill about 10 minutes before I added the chicken, stirring occasionally. The butter and dry heat blended beautifully to caramelize my broccoli and it was a great side for the chicken.

So, if you're going to get in just one more dinner from the grill before putting it away for the cold season or if you need to make a quick dinner, make sure you try this!



P.S. My birthday was last week, so as a birthday gift/early anniversary gift, my mom got us (OK...really I'm the only one who cares about this) a 50mm. Then, I spent my birthday money on a second zoom lens (75-300mm). (Thanks Steph/Dad/Mammaw!) So...you'll probably be seeing a few more photos around here. :)

P.P.S. This weekend is the second biannual Red Barn Outdoor Market, so if you're in the Wichita area, you DON'T want to miss this. Heck, if you're anywhere in Kansas, Oklahoma, or Missouri, you won't want to miss this! Live music will be playing all day long while you browse the 56 (yes...FIFTY-SIX! This is quite the growth since the first Market in April, where we had 33 vendors) booths offering fresh food (breakfast and lunch will be covered!), packaged food (whole wheat bread, grass-fed beef and jerky, etc.) and all kinds of handmade and vintage goodness. Seriously...what a way to bring in the fall! (Early Christmas shopping, anyone?)

White Bean & Kale Soup (Vegan and GF-Friendly!)

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I pinned this recipe from Real Simple a few days ago. I knew today's forecast held wind, rain and cold, so I mentally bookmarked it. I re-arranged our bedroom yesterday, so now our headboard sits right up against the windows--which were open last night--and was woken up by 40 degree winds slapping me in the face. YIKES! But man, with rain coming, did that wind smell good. After a coffee date with Cowboy this morning, I knew I wanted this soup for lunch. 
White Bean & Kale Soup (Adapted from Real Simple)
Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 stalks celery
• 1 large onion
• sea salt and black pepper
• 2 15.5-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup small soup pasta, uncooked (I used organic Farro, but you could use quinoa, making it gluten-free)
• 1 bunch kale
• 8 cups water or vegetable stock (*I make my own stock, so I have plenty on hand, but you could use water and just add some additional herbs/seasoning to boost flavor)
• 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan (2 ounces), plus 1 piece rind (optional) (OR skip the cheese and this would be vegan, too!)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• fresh dill or other herb(s) of choice (I also used some Greek Seasoning)

Directions:

1. Start by washing your kale and tearing the leaves off of the stalk and into small, 1- or 2-inch pieces. This can be tedious, so you'll want to have this done before you turn the stove on. Set kale aside.
2. Chop the garlic, slice the celery and chop the onion. Heat the oil in your pot or dutch oven and add the garlic, celery, onion, 1.5 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, rinse and drain your beans. Once the onion is translucent, add beans, uncooked pasta, kale, herbs, parmesan rind (if you have one-this is optional) and 8 cups water/vegetable stock*. Cover and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer until both your pasta and the kale are tender (this will vary by pasta).
5. Remove the parmesan rind, if you used one. Stir in the lemon juice and serve topped with Parmesan shavings. 

 
It was easy and delicious, though not as hearty as I would have liked. I would either add more pasta, throw in some potatoes or serve with bread (the original recipe did call for this). I also didn't use rosemary (I'm not really a fan) from the original recipe, which could have added to this, but the flavor overall was a bit flat. The addition of more Parmesan fixed that rather quickly, so be generous with it, especially if you're not serving this with bread.
Happy rainy-Kansas Thursday!