Smoothies

So I used the kefir milk!

To make..

Banana smoothie!


Kefir, bananas (fresh and frozen), soaked chia seed, vanilla, honey, and protein powder.

It was good!

I made the kefir fairly weak today, so the taste was subtle, but it really added something!

I'm totally going to make it that way again!


I'd love to say more, but you know how it is...

Things to do, places to be. 

Ta-ta for now!


~~
Isa

Adventures in Fermenting! (& my friend Alexis!)

This is me:

Just Joking.. This is my friend Alexis!
Alexis is so totally psyched for this week!!
I'm sure you have no idea why. Lol
She's looks amazing modeling my blue jacket, no?
It's her first time wearing a blue jacket, and it will be my first time too!
Hooray for patriots- red, white and blue.
And for the people who wear blue jackets.
Wooo-hooo!!
xD

(Yes, I know my poetry stinks. Give me a break, I'm a blogger, not a poet, k? ;)




~~

So, Last night, I *drumrolllll* started my first batch of kefir!!
I'm a total newbie when it comes to all this... stuff.
So I got up this morning and came down to drain off the kefir from the curds...

It looked like this:

I stared at it.
It looked funny for some reason.
I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I thought about it as I rinsed out the jars...
Kefir curds... described online as "little yellow curds that look like mini heads of yellow cauliflower."
This did not look like cauliflower.
It looked more like...

CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes! It was cheese!!
And that clear run-off was whey!
♫ Na na na na na, I'm an evil kefir fermenting geeenius! ♫
Mwaaaahaaahaaa!!
Actually... I kinda failed, if you base success on doing what you planned to do.
However, in the process of screwing up the kefir, I learned how to make cheese!
So really, my venture was still a success!
We make goals, strive to meet them, and sometimes we learn extra stuff along the way.
Sweeeeetnesssss!

I actually didn't eat the cheese, as its been fermenting for.. uh.. probably 2 weeks now.
So I wasn't sure if it was edible.
But I plan to try to make cheese again in the future, and EAT it! :D

After digging through the cheese, I "rescued" several Tablespoons of real kefir curds.
Here is a picture:

They're kinda rubbery, yet they do indeed look like baby cauliflower!
Eventually when they've multiplied, I may try eating some of the curds.
For now, I plan to just eat the kefir.
If I can get it to turn out successfully.
I acutally have a little bit of "kefir milk" that did turn out.
It's chilling in the fridge.
Later on, it's going in a smoothie!


Ok.

I really gotta go now.

Ciao!

:D

Pastel de Chocolate

Guess what I did today?

We had to make a dessert for this thingy...

So,

I made a multi-level chocolate cake from scratch with chocolate buttercream frosting!

Aaaand a mini-cake with the leftover batter and frosting!!

Yes, I do realize the smaller one is partially eaten.
Somebody had to try it!! :D



Anyways, it was quite the adventure.

I failed to line the pan with wax paper, so the cake stuck rather badly.

But thats how we learn, right?



Also the frosting was a little challenging..

*Adds milk:* Oops! Need more sugar.
*Adds sugar:* Ooops! Need more milk!!
*Adds milk:* Oops! Need more sugar.
Etc.



That was fun.

Time to finish cleaning up.

The annoying thing about cooking is all the dishes!



CIAO!

Snow, Puzzles and Losers.

 

I shoveled yesterday with the heavy shovel and the bad boots.

 

The snow is lightweight, but there's so much of it!

 

I like snow but not in such large quantities.

 

Crazy snowflakes...why did you all have to fall at once?

 

Why didn't you fall at Christmas time? Why wait for now???

 

Why can't you stay up there and dance around in the sky for a while?

 

I don't know what those snowflakes are thinking...

 

Oh well, I can't complain.

 

I asked for snow: snow I got.

 

Hooray! :)

 

 

 

 

 

New subject: Life is complicated.

 

Sometimes it feels like life is a 5 billion piece puzzle.  A large part of this feeling might possibly be due to my over-thinking stuff.

 

But I find it always helps to take a step back and admit: "I can't figure this one out. But God is in control and already knows the outcome. Time to stop figuring and start trusting!" Easier said than done haha.

 

 

 

 

 

Today is Saturday.

 

I would like to dedicate this day to losers. 

 

Losers who lose THE GAME.

 

Don't cry. It's ok. Everybody loses sometime.

 

In fact, I'm losing right now.

 

But you, haha, you will lose time and time again.

 

It is my strategic plan.

 

So just try not to think about it.

 

Try not to think about how epicly you are going to lose.

 

{Note: this paragraph was directed towards a special girl. you know who you are. lol}

 

 

 

I will close with Tchaikovskys "March" from the Nutcracker.

Because it's just that awesome.

Why I Adore Brass

Tonight I was thinking… and I decided that I really like brass.  All the brass instruments have a bright, cheerful sound, yet there’s also sense of strength/power behind them.  It’s kind of hard to explain… but it sends tingles up my spine.

Also, brass do not require reeds. Reeds are a PAIN! You have to soak them, and when they get old or dry they squeak or stop working completely.  Thankfully, brass have a metal mouthpiece instead of a reed. You buy it once, and it lasts forever. Unless you lose it like the person who had my horn before me…But yeah, generally speaking, mouth pieces are super nice, and they last indefinitely.

Another reason I love brass, is that for each fingering you can play several notes.  This is different than winds, where you move your fingers for every note.  For horn, I can play a chord and not “lift a finger” :)

So these are a few reasons why I adore brass- and you should too. Seriously, brass are the backbone of the band. Where would you be without us? Yeah, I thought so.

Ok, you know that awkward moment when you enthusiastically answer a question, and then you realize the question wasn’t directed towards you at all, and the person you answered (and the person they were talking to) give you a blank stare.  Yep, I’ve done that… quite recently actually. Awwwwkwarrrrddd.

New subject: My sister makes me laugh.  She’s always so creative with her adjectives. Today, she was telling me all about her rabbit’s tongue. “He has this cute little pink tongue! It’s so fluffy!”

Me: “Fluffy tongue?”

Em: “Yes!! It is!!!”

Lol I love my sistah x)

Now it’s time for ~wellness lecture~

It’s cold outside, which means most of us are staying inside, which means our germs are all staying inside with us too.

This is why it’s called “Cold and Flu season”.

If you’re sick, and you take something to help you get better, here’s a little advice.

When taking pills, you should never ever take a double dose.  If you do, you will most certainly feel equally bad or worse than you did before you took the pill.  Read the instructions carefully so you don’t double dose.

Other than that,

Get lots of sleep, drink water, and eat cheerios.

Remember folks, you CAN prevent heart disease. Cheerios, when consumed in combination with a healthy low-fat diet and an active lifestyle, has been proven to reduce risk of heart disease and lower cholesterol.

So don’t just sit there- go eat some cheerios.

And then go run like 10 miles. 

And then cough because of all the cold air you just inhaled.

This has been your ~wellness lecture~

So I could ramble on and on… about frozen squash, music, homework and so much more.

But, I think it’s time to call it a night.

Au Revoir!

Our Troops

Can’t stop thinking about our guys (and gals) overseas.

I think of them, pray for them, but go on with my life as normal.

But their lives are not normal.

They spend day after day pouring themselves into their assigned work, night after night struggling to sleep or maybe not sleeping at all because the danger and stress is enormous and constant.

Ruthless enemies, powerful weapons, ferocious animals, unknown land- it’s big, real and serious.
To see the pictures…

The harsh terrain,

The big weapons

 And in the middle of it all, our men and women of the military.  

They’re out there fighting for us.

Aware that any moment, at a split second, their lives could be lost.

Our courageous servicemen.

Oh to see them come home safely!

To have them here with us again.

But whatever happens, God knows best.



Keep praying for our troops!

For our brothers and sister in Jesus Christ, that their faith may be stretched and grown.

And for those who don’t yet know the Lord, that they may come to put their faith in him and receive peace and rest.

Haha

So I, having just finished eating some oreos w/milk, was happily standing in front of the kitchen table singing a totally random song and watching Em eat a late dinner.

I stop singing mid-word, shriek, jump backwards and point at window.

Em gets up and starts shrieking, but won’t turn around to see what horror lies on the other side of the glass.

Me: “COONS!!!!”

Em: “Oh.”

It was pretty funny. I’m not sure why. Maybe just my weird humor, that I was so excited by a pair of raccoons checking out our bird feeder, and my sister was so disinterested.

Anyways, it’s been a busy day- I’m tired of trying not to cough! I want to cough my guts out, but my guts hurt too much to cough. Too much information… :P

Anyways I’m taking lots of vitamins and pills and drinking water and I hope to be better soon.

And the best part of today was: talking to my best friend on the phone! My spirit has now been lifted- She makes me smile :)

She always says:

“I have a good feeling about this.”

I never believe her at the time, but in the end it seems like she’s almost always right ;)

She’s one of the most encouraging people I know.

I miss her so much- You are the bestest ever, Katie!

Really, she rocks. And she puts up with so much from me.

Click on her name to see her fantabulous blog!

Ok, it is now time for doing other stuff.

Toodles!