Homemade Queso Fresco

As I'm still trying to learn the ins and outs of finding affordable organic products, I've found that sometimes it's just easier to do it yourself. Organic and/or raw cheeses can cost an arm and a leg yo'!!


This is by far my favorite cheese recipe and I make it often - it couldn't be simpler and the mild, crumbly cheese it produces is so versatile. Put it on salads, crumble it into soups, casseroles, tacos, pizza, the list goes on and on.  If you're new to or nervous about trying to make your own cheese- this is the perfect beginner recipe. And all ya need are three ingredients:

• 3-4 Tbsp Distilled white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Kosher salt
• 1/2 gal of organic milk (You can do skim, 1%, 2% or whole - they all work!)

Pour the half gallon of milk into a large non-reactive pot and add 1 Tbsp Kosher salt. 

Bring slowly to a full, rolling boil over medium. Once it's good and boiling, add 3-4 Tbsp vinegar. (I find with the ultra pasteurized or pasteurized, you have to be a little violent with the boiling and the vinegar - alot of recipes say to turn the heat off when you add the vinegar but mine wouldn't curdle that way... I had to keep on boiling! Don't worry, you won't hurt it- it's not a sensitive cheese.) 

Here you can begin to see the curd separating from the whey....

Prepare your strainer: You can't see it very well but I actually have a bowl under the colander to catch the whey - you don't want to throw that away! You can make ricotta or other cheeses out of it or use it to boil pasta or rice in. It's full of vitamins! 

Here you can DEFINITELY see the whey and curd have separated, time to pour into the strainer...

Gather up the cheesecloth to let it hang and pour off the excess whey. 

I actually like to tie the cheesecloth to one of my cabinet handles and let it drain/cool while I'm busy doing other things... make sure to place a bowl under the cheese as it continues to drip. 

I love how it compacts into a little cheese ball, but crumbles easily if you need it to! 

And there you go! Homemade cheese! 

Now what to do with the whey.... 

Mason Jar Soap Dispensers

I was perusing my favorite online shopping website (Amazon, I'm truly addicted) for some country-esque, homesteady items and I saw these incredibly cute mason jar soap dispensers! Well, they were cute until I saw the price... These things range 12-25 dollars for ONE depending on what one you're looking at. What the heck? It's a soap pump and a mason jar...

Then I realized I indeed had many a soap pump AND many a mason jar, so I immediately traveled to the Mecca of art and craft ideas: Pinterest. After searching and reading a few how-to sites, I knew this would be a doable feat for me.

With only a few snafoos that were easily fixible, I ended up making three soap jars that I'm proud to call my own! I think there's something incredibly satisfying about creating your own household items out of things you already have lying around- cheers for upcycling!

The black hand pumps look more classy and aesthetically pleasing, but I found that the Cetaphil pump works wonderfully as well and I like to utilize all of my 'trash'. 

This is what you'll need for this project:

• A mason jar with two piece lid
• An old plastic soap dispenser (Think those hand soap containers from Mrs. Meyers or Purell- I even used an old Cetaphil pump container) 
• A permanent marker
• Scissors (Preferably a hardcore set like kitchen shears) 
• A Phillips screwdriver
• Crazy glue (I also had acetone nail polish remover on standby)
• GLOVES, GLOVES, USE GLOVES -FOR THE LOVE - USE GLOVES (I used a latex set like you see in hospitals and what not) 
• Paper towels - protect your counters! Crazy glue is evil and merciless
• Optional: A hammer, needle nose pliers 

Assemble your tools and don your gloves my fellow homesteaders! Here we go!

As you can see, I have a knife here. It's old knife from college and I use and abuse it for projects like this. I used it to cut off the top of a soap dispenser but you could also use your scissors. Please notice I left about an inch around the top of the dispenser. Also, sorry for lack of picture of me sawing the top off of the empty soap dispenser. Also- use common sense when working with sharp knives and scissors, let's not lose a digit here!

Invert the top of the soap dispenser onto the bottom of the mason jar lid, trace around the opening so that you know how large to cut the hole. (You could also do this before you cut the bottle apart, it doesn't really matter) 

There we go! Not a perfectly drawn circle, but who's going to see it once it's together? NOBODY - that's who! 

Then grab your screwdriver and hammer, and go find a soft, cushy place to pound the screwdriver through the lid. I used my carpeted stair. I promise, it doesn't damage the carpet, it just raises the lid up enough that it's not flush on the ground and it makes it easier to puncture the lid. The metal is really thin also, so if you don't have a hammer handy, just pound on the end of the screwdriver with your fist. One or two holes should do. 

Et voila!

Now carefully, oh so carefully, use your kitchen shears to cut through the puncture hole and around the circle you made with the permanent marker. The metal is sharp, any jagged edges WILL cut you, I know from experience. 

Save yourself some grief and trial putting the neck of the soap dispenser through the mason jar lid to ensure that it fits. Cut the hole a little wider if necessary. 

Now, WEARING YOUR GLOVES, put a line of crazy glue around the inside of the mason jar lid, then immediately put the two pieces of the lid together and hold in place for 10-30 seconds. If you DO NOT wear gloves and get crazy glue on your skin like I did the first time- proceed in a panic to the nearest bathroom where you'll douse your hands in the acetone nail polish you gathered and scrub off the glue with a nail file. So, WEAR GLOVES.

All set! We're almost there!! 

Now from here, if you have a super tight fit you can probably avoid that evil super glue, or if you're really wanting to avoid ANY leakage, you can give it a go. I did not have good success with being able to adequately super glue these two pieces together. I also don't give a care about the leakage (it seems that was the top complaint on the Amazon reviews of purchasable ones as well- so I'm not alone!)

Screw the top part of the pump onto the neck as tightly as you can and there you go! 

Sure, it might not be perfectly painted and I bet if I turned it upside down and shook it, it'd leak, but I think there's something incredibly appealing about home-style, imperfect creations. Makes it unique eh?

The Story of the Rag Rug

So during my homesteading blog perusing, I came across something that I haven't seen in a long, long time. Rag rugs! I've always wanted to try this! Since I didn't want to go out and purchase linens from a thrift shop and there wasn't any WAY I was buying NEW sheets to tear up, I grabbed a garbage bag full of old clothes I had been planning to turn into cleaning rags..

And then proceeded to tear them into strips. The method to my madness was: 

1. Cut off collar (salvage buttons for later!)
2. Cut off arm sleeves.

3. Cut up side hem of shirt from top to bottom

4. Lay it open and rip the strips from the shirt horizontally (because unfortunately, I'm wider than I am tall and there were longer strips this way) 

5. Shoot for strips that are 3-4'' wide but, as you'll learn quickly with clothing they don't rip as neatly or evenly as linens do..

Again I apologize for my poor photography skills. And this pile of rags. 

Next grab three rags and pin them together, and START.. BRAIDING... 

Word to the wise: make your braids LOOSE, do NOT make them tight or your life will suck when you get to the sewing part. 

For more detailed instructions, go here (especially since I didn't take a photo of how to link your strips together when you get to the end of one)

See? It's starting to take form... looks like a rug to me! Uhh ignore my toes... 

And then, my least favorite part... sew the braids together...

I ain't gonna sugar coat it - this part sucked. It took me hours and I had to take breaks because it's tedious lining up the braids. I also broke two sewing machine needs :( Boo. 

But after all that blood, sweat, and tears.. I think it was worth it! 

Hmm... Now where to put it... 

This was fun, but not so sure I'll be making another one!