Thrifty mom

When I was little my dad had cattle, well a couple of milk cows and some bulls. Mom made all kinds of milk products, and I helped her sell milk before going to school, and after school my brother and I helped make cheese, cream, etc.

Today I took a trip back to my childhood : I made cheese, although I don't have cheese molds:

Queso fresco (fresh cheese) is creamy and delicious! I don't have all the equipment my mom had but I made do! Instead of a mill I used a food processor, and Tupperware instead of molds! 

I also made panela, which basically salted curd then compacted by draining all the whey and is shaped by the basket it drains on, a chiquihuite

A byproduct of cheese making is whey. By boiling it 

... You get ricotta ...

Once you've drained the cooked whey...

Too bad I buy a little milk, only 5 quarts every other day. You need a substantial amount of whey to get more than the couple of spoonfuls you get with my 5 quarts. We used to boil the whey of 10 gallons of milk and got about a pound or two of ricotta . 

Still, it was great making cheese for my family! My girls love fresh cheese!

Yummy juice!

Hello peeps! How are you doing?

With school about to start in little over a week comes the excitement of a new year: new classmates, new things to learn, new teacher, brand new notebooks, pencils and coloring pencils! 

And also comes the time when my kiddos can't snack as often as they want. 

The routine during the school year is pretty much the same, they get up, get dressed, have a light breakfast and off to school! Classes start at 7:30 am and they have their lunch break at 10:30.

But this year I want to stop giving them chocolate milk and a biscuit at home. They always want to play during their break so they sometimes don't finish their lunches (I send them lunch because the options at school are not what I would like them to eat on a daily basis) 

So I've dusted off my Turmix juicer! And I've been trying out different combos. So far, they like these:

- Carrot + beet

- Apple + beet

- Apple + celery

And today I tried a new one for an afternoon refreshment: Apple + ginger

And it's so delicious!!!! 

 (My little archaeologist insisted on her latest finds sharing the picture) 

I was afraid it would be too overwhelming so I watered it down and added ice and oh my! It's delicious! No sugar added, the zap of ginger makes it really refreshing! Some ice and we are ready to brave the hot Mexican summer! 

I've just bought a Nutribullet from Amazon because I hate all the fiber staying in the juicer (my potted plants are getting it though) and I'm supposed to get it within the forth night, and I'm so excited to try new recipes! So if you own one, which combos do you like?

(Digging is a really hard job! My little scientist gets very very thirsty!)