Strawberry Freezer Jam

Bryan doesn't like store bought jam since I started making it myself. I got some gorgeous strawberries through bountiful basket and got to work! I had 8 pounds which made 3 batches plus some to freeze for smoothies.

Here is the recipe I used:
http://momonamission.me/?p=4645

The low sugar recipe was SOO much better than regular. The berry flavor stood out so much more!!

Go get some berries and make some delicious freezer jam. You can make a batch start to finish in about 30 minutes!

Grandma Applesauce.

I have lots of blog posts I want to type up, so i'll make this more of a picture post. 

 

P.S. When I am nursing baby at 3 AM I tend to think of the best blog posts, but I never write them down.  hmm.. gotta change that.  Funny how my thoughts are the best in the middle of the night....

 

Okay, when mom came to visit (who is now known as Grandma Applesauce), we went to an orchard and picked apples and tomatoes!  We made applesauce for baby, sliced apples for pie, and delicious tomato sauce!

 

Step 1: Put baby in front pack and go to orchard

Step 2: get handsome husband to climb up tree to get the best apples

 

Step 3: rinse apples (apparently we didn't rinse well enough because a little catapillar made its way into Bryan's school bag!)

then if you want to make apple slices, slice and peel apples and cook for 5 minutes

dump into ice water to stop cooking process

 



stuff into jars and add a little simple syrup



to make applesauce quarter apples peels and cores included and cook down until really soft

here they are soft and ready to be whirled!

place in food mill and whirl whirl whirl!

you see at the bottom is perfect applesauce, and the seeds and skin stays in the top!



water bath to preserve and admire on the counter



ooh Eli, that will be yummy lunch one day :)

and you can't forget tomato sauce!!



its so delicious I don't even want to used canned anymore. 


so there you have it. Grandma Applesauce sure knows how to make yummy applesauce!  Love you mom!



simplfiy.

Since adjusting to living on one income and still trying to save some excess I have been brainstorming ways to simplify our life and be a bit more frugal.  I found a great budgeting worksheet and have been keeping every receipt (reciept?) so we can track our spending and see what we need to be more frugal with and how much we spend on different things.

We got in a bad habit of eating out too frequently this past year.  When we were both working 40-50 hours a week we would get home at 6 or 7 in the evening and grabbing fast food or sandwiches on the way home was so much more convenient.

Now that baby and I have a bit more spare time at home I have been researching things to simplify our life a bit.  Finding tips on organizing,  getting creative with things we have already around the house, and finding DIY projects and natural cleaning products instead of pricey ones full of chemicals have really been interesting and fulfilling to me. 

One thing I have enjoyed is creating a weekly menu and grocery list.  Each week when I go to the grocery store I only purchase what is on my list for the week for each meal (and fresh produce to snack on).  It has really helped us cut back on expensive snacks, or over buying and then wasting food. 

Here are some of my meals I've been cooking.  They are all from Pinterest because I'm trying new recipes instead of the usual tacos, sloppy joes, spaghetti, ect.  (if you want the recipes they are on my pinterest page).  I have loved trying new recipes, and these are super quick and delicious! 


oven baked chicken

super moist crock pot roast

crock pot meatballs

homemade tomato soup

olive garden soup

spaghetti pie

 

creamy crock pot chicken

Hungry Hungry Hippos

Remeber that game where your hippo tries to eat all the white marbles before the other hippos? 

 I feel EXACTLY like that today! I want to eat everything in sight before its gone!!

I found a few recipes I'm going to try this week that sounds heavenly.  The first is one of those rainy day meals.  Bryan and I used to eat tomato soup and grilled cheese a few times a WEEK in college.  This recipe looks so good!

http://www.peasandcrayons.com/2012/05/waiter-there-are-balls-in-my-soup.html#

Heavenly breaded balls of mozarella cheese in homemade soup.  I'm sold!

Then I'll have to try:

http://foodfamilyfinds.com/broccoli-chedder-chicken-croissant-braid-recipe/#

Yes, I realize both recipes have either half and half of a fair bit of cheese, but isn't that what makes this world go round?  :)

Wild Wild West

We have missed doing a few things we enjoy while living in the "city" like camping, hiking, bon fires, fishing, and shooting.  We have been able to do some of these things but it takes a lot more preparation and driving then when we were in Idaho.  We went out shooting today following some directions that took us down past Eagle Mountain.  It was almost an hour drive by the time we got there!  But it was nice to get away from the hussle and bussle of the city and get out a ways.

I laughed outloud when I pulled out the gun and realized I had bright pink nail polish on.  First, I'm not a big pink wearer (not that I don' like it, I just don't have much), and second, guns and pink really don't go together :)

Check out that belly!  Wait, no... please don't :)

It was a fun, relaxing afternoon. 

 After grocery shopping we grilled steaks and had mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.  YUM!  And for desert Key Lime Pie.  Here is the recipe:

1 can frozed limeade concentrate thawed

1 can sweetened condensed milk

8 oz cool whip thawed

fold together ingredients and pour into graham cracker crust.  Freeze and serve.  Easy!

Baby likes food.

I haven't decided if the cravings are my own or if they are hormonal baby cravings. Nonetheless I am enjoying them :) 

Very first craving was McDonald's breakfast burritos.  GROSS!  I hate McDonalds, but that was the main give away that I was pregnant.  I had to have them!  Not since though!

Then I really really needed thai food. 

And Mac and cheese, yogurt and granola, bananas, and cereal (Kix mostly).

Last night was German pancakes!!!  They were delicious!

I made an 8X8 to feed the two of us, but if you make it for more I would double it for a 9X13 pan.

3 eggs
1/2 milk
1/2 flour
1/4 tsp salt

drizzle 1 Tbs melted butter in bottom of pan.  Mix ingredients together until smooth and pour over butter.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Heaven! 

This isn't my photo, but its the same recipe that I used

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Meals for the Week

I'm soo hungry everything on this website looks good but I found a few new recipes for us to try these next couple weeks.

First... texas sheet cake sounds so good!  Not sure why, but if I made it I would probably eat the entire thing!

Then I could go for some Tortilla soup

Then homemade scalloped potatoes.  yyuuuummmm!

And our favorite go-to's like spaghetti and meatballs, grilled cheese and soup, and chicken balls.  I know some people call them chicken pillows, but thats not nearly as much fun as calling them chicken balls. So there.  chicken balls!

Manicotti Stuffed Shells.... Heaven

Dinner tonight was pretty much amazing!  I made super easy manicotti stuffed shells.   Ready for the how to?

Cook manicotti shells (or jumbo shells) according to package, but just al dente or they will be too soft and tear.

 mix 15 oz. ricotta cheese, 1 egg, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, some italian seasonings and a bit of salt.

I put the filling into a plastic bag and cut the tip and squooshed it into the tubes. High tech language there by the way.

Layer a bit of spaghetti sauce on bottom and the rest of the jar on top.  sprinkle with a bit of cheese and bake covered for 30 minutes at 350 then 15 minutes uncovered. 

It was soo good and really easy to make.  Bryan liked too.  He almost licked his plate clean!