I am feeling pretty accomplished right now

After having a rough few weeks of just generally feeling "blah" and very unsatisfied and discontented ~ I had a GREAT day, I feel like I accomplished something and taught the boys a lesson as well.

Wednesdays are always crazy busy for us as we have to drop Bean off at K in the morning, then run and pick up our milk for the week, come home, put the milk away, round up the library books and head to Storytime at the Library (it is mostly for Bug, but Bird enjoys it too) then after that rousing hour we scramble back home to drop off our library goodies and hike back up to the school to pick Bean up before noon, when he is done with K.

So, we did all that today and I decided that once I got Bird down for a *nice* nap (he took a 3.5 hour one today ~ woo hoo) I'd make cheese. I took a class on how to make soft cheeses this past weekend and it was excellent!

Anyway, here are some pictures of my helpers as we do our "experiment" of turning milk into cheese ~ Queso Fresco!

Bean and Bug stirring the milk ~ we had to heat it to 160-180 degrees, but the milk has to be constantly stirred so it won't scorch.

I just sprinkled a little citric acid in and Bean was smelling the milk ~ he thought it smelled yummy ~ like cheese :o)

You can see some of the curds starting to form.

Here you can really see the whey and curd starting to separate.

Using a cloth napkin, I strained all the curds and whey. I collected the whey in a large bowl ~ and just want did I do with that left over whey you ask? Well, a half gallon of it is in my fridge and 2.5 cups are in..........

Homemade bread! (which got rave reviews from the boys) :o)

And here is the Queso Fresco. I only let it dry for about four hours, so it was still quite moist. If I would let it dry all night it would be a drier and firmer cheese.

I added a little salt (you can add herbs and fruits too if you want) and the boys loved it. They were quite proud of what they helped make.

Today just felt like a full, busy, rewarding day. I love to have the boys home with me and teaching them things like how to make cheese. Their excitement for learning new things is contagious!