Strawberry Freezer Jam

STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM

2 c. mashed strawberries, about 1 qt.

4 c. sugar

1 box powdered fruit pectin

3/4 c. water



Stir strawberries and sugar together, mixing thoroughly. Measure sugar exactly and do not reduce amount or jam will not set properly. Set aside. Stir fruit pectin with water in saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Stir mixture together until sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy. Pour into clean dry containers, filling to within 1/2 inch of top. Cover at once with tight lids. Let stand at room temperature overnight. Store in freezer until opened; then store in refrigerator. Make about 4 (8 fluid ounce) container.



NOTE: Potato masher works best for strawberries.








     domestically speaking

Ruby Red Tuesday

http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/2011/06/ruby-tuesday.html

Diabetic Recipe: Tomato, Avacado and Corn Salad

•1 cup chopped lettuce


•1 cup diced tomato

•1 cup corn - roasted and cut from cub

•1/4 fresh avocado - diced

•2 Tsp fat-free Italian salad dressing

•1/2 6" pita - lightly grilled

Toss roasted corn, tomato, salad dressing and avocado together while corn is still warm. This will slightly melt the avocado and create a creamier dressing. Chill and serve over lettuce with pita toast on the side.




Recipe Source: http://diabetes.about.com/od/dieticianapprovedrecipes/a/summersalads.htm

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

5 Minutes for Mom

Healthy Summer Treat : Ants On A Log

5 stalks celery


1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup raisins

Cut the celery stalks in half. Spread with peanut butter. Sprinkle with raisins

Cool Malted Treat

This recipe was one that I found while hopping around the internet. I found it here and you can check this cool treat perfect for summer heat out as well.




Easy Malted Ice Cream




Start to finish: 8 hours (15 minutes active)



300 ml (1 1/4 cups) sugar, divided



9 egg yolks



1 l (4 cups) heavy cream



175 ml (3/4 cup) malted milk powder



Pinch of salt



15 ml (1 tbsp) vanilla extract



In a large bowl, whisk half of the sugar with egg yolks. Set aside.



In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, malted milk powder, salt and remaining sugar. Bring to a simmer.



Once cream mixture is hot, while whisking eggs pour cream slowly into bowl of eggs. Stir in vanilla. Refrigerate mixture until completely chilled, about 4 hours.



When mixture is completely chilled, beat with an electric mixer until thick, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a freezer-safe, airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours. Enjoy within 3 days.



Makes 2 l (8 cups).





Tasty Tuesday

Patriotic Treat: Cupcake Pops

1 13X9 baked cake (from a box cake mix or from scratch … any flavor)


1 can cream cheese frosting (or about 2 cups equivalent from scratch)

1 flower shaped cookie cutter (1.25″ wide X .75″ tall)

1 package chocolate bark

1 package pink candy melts or white chocolate bark

bowls for dipping

wax paper

aluminum foil

lollipop sticks

sprinkles, m&ms or something similar for top of cupcake

small plastic treat bags and ribbon to package the Cupcake Pops

candy cups and truffle boxes to individually package the Cupcake Bites

styrofoam block

Bake a cake from a mix or from scratch and cool completely. Crumble cake into a fine consistency into a large bowl. TIP: If the texture is too coarse, you can run it through a food processor.
Add can of cream cheese frosting or homemade frosting and blend together using the back of a large spoon. Blend thoroughly. Roll mixture into 1.25″ – 1.5″ size balls and lay on wax paper covered cookie sheet. You may want to periodically rinse and dry your hands off in between.
Cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for several hours. TIP: You can speed this up by placing in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Remove. Begin to shape into cupcakes using a small flower-shaped cookie cutter. (see below) Take the chilled ball and roll it into more of an oval and then slide into cookie cutter. Push it into cutter until about half fills the cutter and the rest sticks out of the top in the shape of a mound. Then push the shaped cupcake carefully out of the cookie cutter from the bottom. Set right side up on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Continue with remaining balls. Once shaped, cover and return to freezer. (5-10 minutes)
TIP: You can leave them covered in the refrigerator overnight if you want to do the dipping on the following day.
While cupcake shapes are chilling, begin to heat up your chocolate bark.
Brown chocolate bark for the bottoms. Pink or white chocolate for the tops.
Follow the instructions on the package for melting. Most recommend heating for 30 second intervals at a time and stirring in between. You can also do the double boiler method. When you are ready to dip, remove from freezer and set up another wax paper covered cookie sheet. Take the cupcake shaped mixture and dip bottoms into the melted chocolate – just to the point where the mounded shape starts. Remove from chocolate, turn upside down and wiggle so that the excess starts to slide down slightly. Then lay on the wax paper upside down. If you want them to be lollipops, then go ahead and insert the lollipop sticks while the chocolate is still wet. Continue with rest of the cupcakes. You can also leave some without the sticks. They’re just as cute as Cupcake Bites.
TIP: Dip end of your lollipop stick in the melted chocolate before inserting into chocolate bottoms. Not sure if this helps a lot, but it couldn’t hurt.

DON’T – get water in the chocolate. Make sure your hands are completely dry. Water will cause the chocolate to separate and mess up all your hard work.
Dry completely. (15-20 minutes)
Once dry, dip the tops of the cupcakes in the pink or white chocolate. You may need to move it around a little to cover all the exposed areas.





TIP: Let the pink chocolate sit for a few minutes after heating to thicken. This will help it from dripping down the sides of the cupcake.



Remove from the pink/white chocolate and turn right side up. You may need to hold and rotate it if there is any excess so that it doesn’t drip down too far.

TIP: You can use a toothpick to help cover any areas the melted chocolate didn’t cover.



For the Cupcake Bites – just turn right side up and rest on the wax paper. Then go ahead and put a m&m on the top and add sprinkles while wet.





For the lollipops, Continue holding and place an m&m on the top and add sprinkles. Let them dry in a styrofoam block that you have already poked holes into.

When completely dry, cover the lollipops with small plastic treat bags and tie with a ribbon.





For the Cupcake Bites, place in a candy cup and package in small candy truffle boxes to present individually.

Makes about 50.

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Make Your Own Summer Memories : Pinwheels

Summer and warm weather to me when I was a kid would mean a new pinwheel craft from the dime store. Yes I did say dime store how many years ago was it that we had one of those? I thought you all would have a great time keeping little hands busy so I found this great craft for making pinwheels on the blog here

To get ready you will need :

1 Small Dowel or Pencil


1 Piece of Card stock

1 Push pin

Things to color with and decorate with.

then visit the link I shared to find out how to make. Hope you have lots of fun making and playing with the pinwheels.

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All Things Related

Easy Recipe Key Lime Pie

This is a find I found while blog hopping You have to see how easy this key lime pie is to make check it out here and don't forget my key lime bars just a few post down

Grilling Time: Hawaii Style Barbq Sauce

8 cups shoyu or soy sauce


6 cups sugar

¼ cup sherry wine

¼ cup vegetable oil

3-inch piece ginger, peeled, sliced and crushed

4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

Combine shoyu, sugar and wine. Heat oil in a small frying pan and brown ginger. Add ginger to shoyu mixture, leaving oil in the frying pan. Brown garlic and add to shoyu mixture. Mix well.



source: http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2009/11/17/hawaii_style_barbecue_teriyaki_sauce_recipe

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Grilling Time: Peaches and Pork

4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut pork loin chops
 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, divided
 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 large peaches, peeled, halved, and pitted (about 12 ounces)
Cooking spray
6 cups trimmed arugula
1 teaspoon granulated sugar


Preparation

Place each piece of pork between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and pound each piece to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or a rolling pin.

Combine 2 tablespoons vinegar, juice, thyme, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Reserve 1 tablespoon juice mixture. Pour the remaining juice mixture in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add pork; seal and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning occasionally.

Preheat grill to medium heat.

Place peaches, cut sides up, on a plate; drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar.

Place pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes on each side or until pork is done. Set aside.

Place peaches, cut sides down, on grill rack; grill 4 minutes or until soft and slightly browned. Turn and cook 2 minutes or until heated through. Cut each peach half into 4 slices. Slice pieces of pork into 1-inch-thick strips.

Drizzle trimmed arugula with reserved 1 tablespoon juice mixture, tossing to coat. Divide arugula evenly among 4 plates. Top with grilled pork strips and peach slices; sprinkle evenly with turbinado sugar.

recipe source: My Recipes
 
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All The Small Stuff

Hearth and Soul

 a southern fairytale

Key Lime Bars

Did any of you catch the show Next Food T.V. Star. They made their own version of Key Lime Pie I thought I would share this recipe from my recipes for any of you that would like to make it for yourself.

CRUST:


8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1/4 cup sugar 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt FILLING:

2 large eggs 1 large egg yolk 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup Key lime juice 1 teaspoon grated lime zest 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour Confectioners' sugar, for dusting, optional

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang. Mist foil with cooking spray.

2. Make crust: Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in flour and salt. Press evenly over bottom of pan. Bake until firm and light golden around edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly.

3. Make filling: Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat eggs, yolk and sugar until smooth. Stir in lime juice and zest. Fold in flour. Pour filling over crust and bake until set, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. Use foil overhang to remove bars from pan to cut. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving, if desired

 and Mingle Monday

Strawberry Granita

3/4 cup granulated sugar


2 cups Strawberry Sauce Make it your own

In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar and 1 cup of boiling water until the sugar dissolves, then stir in the Strawberry Sauce. Pour the mixture into a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and freeze. Stir the granita with a fork once every 30 minutes until frozen, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. (The consistency will be granular.) Scrape the granita into serving cups or bowls.

recipe source:Racheal Ray

shared at $5 dinners

Copy Cat Recipe

One of my favorite places to eat is Chick-fil-A I foundit while on vacation and fell in love. Want to re-create this same taste at home check out this CopyCat chick fil a chicken sandwich  

Grilling Time: Beef Kabobs

At a recent event, the Taste of Home, event that I attended with my mom Otts was one of the vendors. They were awesomes sharing samples of their great products. I also signed up for their newsletter and to follow them on facebook. Here is one of their great recipes that they shared.

3 lbs. Sirloin tip roast


3 to 4 bell peppers

1 qt. cherry tomatoes

2 medium onions

2 cans (4oz.) mushroom caps



Marinade:

2 Cups Ott's SDC Barbecue Sauce

1 Cup ketchup

1/4 Cup olive oil

1/4 Cup vinegar

1/4 Cup sugar



Combine marinade sauce ingredients in large sauce pan, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat. While sauce is cooking, cut beef into one inch cubes. Put meat into hot marinade sauce after removing it from heat. Stir to make sure all meat is well coated. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. To prepare vegetables for skewers, cut onions into eighths and separate layers; core peppers and cut into eighths; drain mushrooms. Skewer meat alternating with vegetables and mushrooms. Cook on medium hot grill. Turn every 5 minutes and baste with marinade sauce. Grill 10 to 20 minutes (10 minutes for rare, 20 minutes for well done).

Motivate Me Monday and Mad Skills Monday

In the Garden

My most impressive flower in my yard or porch right now is the petunia. They seem to be hardy flowers and I know very pretty. They are doing great in the warm weather and love to have a drink of water about sundown each evening. What is growing in your garden?

Ritz Crackerfuls MultiGrain Review and Printable Coupon

Recently we had the chance to try out the new Ritz Crackerfuls Multigrain. Now we had all ready fallen in love with Ritz Crackerfuls and we were so happy to see they were available in multigrain as well. Crackerfuls are available in three delicious multi grain flavors Sharp Cheddar, Garden vegetable and Garlic Herb. Yummy!! They are a great snack that will help keep you full and have 6 grams of whole grains per serving. The whole grain taste of the cracker and the creamy cheese matched up and were delicious together.

Want to try them yourself? They are available in many grocery stores. Try them yourself but first like Ritz on facebook and get a printable $.75 coupon for Ritz crackerful coupons.



If you would like to try them yourself, visit Ritz on Facebook for a printable $.75 Ritz Crackerfuls coupon.

 I received product from One2One Network to faciliate my review. No compensation was received for this post and any opinions expressed above are my own.

A Generation ....

Each generation has its own leaders, its own way of living life and its own heros and villians. As this new generation of adults graduates from high schools and enter lives as adults in different roles my prayers are with them.

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Saturday Scriptures

Spiritual Sunday

Five Question Friday

1. If you had to choose, how would you prefer to choose to spend money...on landscaping or a pool?


right now that would be a hard decision with it being so hard I would probably try to get both but if I had to choose just one it would be on landscaping

2. (Scott likes to get things stirred up...) Death penalty, yay or nay?

against it all the way always have been always will be

3. What's the worst thing your kid has gotten into when you turned your back/blogged/showered/blinked?

well its where they got to instead of into they got out the upstairs window and on top of the roof oh my the things my children have did



4. How often do you REALLY go to the dentist?

right now in the process of dental work so every 2 weeks

5. What is your favorite animal (doesn't have to be a pet-type animal)?
 
I love cats, big ones , little ones