Honey Strawberry freezer jelly

I live in a farming community where we have access to fresh produce a good chunk of the year. A favorite of mine growing up was always homemade strawberry jelly. My mom would make a large batch and store it in the freezer to last us the year. Oh yum!

My first year of being married I wanted my mom to help me make my own batch. I never realized the amount of SUGAR that goes into one batch!!!! WOW. It's like equal parts sugar and strawberries. I was determined to never make any of that sugary stuff again unless I could find a healthy alternative recipe. AND I DID (thanks to my best friend, Pinterest.)

I'd love to share it with you!

Honey Strawberry Freezer Jam

Makes about six 8-10 oz. jars

4 pints of strawberries (about three pounds of berries)
1 cup of apple juice
1/2 cup of water
1 package of No Sugar Needed Pectin
1 T lemon juice
1 cup of honey (I did 1 1/2 cups)

1.  Clean and stem berries.  Mash one layer of berries at a time in a large bowl until all berries are mashed.

2.  In a small saucepan, whisk together apple juice, water, and pectin.  Bring to a hard boil and boil for one minute. (Make sure you stir very well so you don't leave any pectin on the bottom)

3.  Add honey and lemon juice to berries and stir well.  Add in hot pectin mixture and stir well again to make sure everything is combined.

4.  Ladle into clean jars (glass is fine) and screw on lids.  Let sit in the refrigerator for a few hours to set up and then transfer to the freezer to store. (I used plastic freezer containers)

I used this recipe this week. I doubled the batch, added a little more honey (see note in recipe) and let it set in the fridge 24 hours after making it, before I froze it. It turned out perfect!!! I could eat the stuff by the spoonful, it's so sweet and yummy!!!!

If you try this recipe, I'd love to hear how you liked it!

Happy freezing.

-A

Blog re-launch!

I'm coming back!


For this season in my life, I have given up Facebook. Probably temporarily, but who knows!


I have realized a passion of mine is nutritional living. Healthy, tasty food that benefits your body as well as other natural remedies and recipes for the body and home. I have had many people ask me for recipes to things I've made or mentioned. And so, I will dedicate my no FB time to this blog, mainly to promote healthy living and helping others in this area!


I would love to hear your feedback from things I post! Even if it's something you disagree with. I am still very much learning all about being healthy and love hearing about other people's discoveries too! 






Here goes a new adventure :)


-A

honesty.

Here is my honesty. Please don't judge.

I get disappointed fairly easily. It's usually the little disappointments in life that get me down more than big things.

Example: Since the beginning of January I haven't been eating sugar. NO SUGAR at all. I set a goal for myself and allowed myself 3 cheats, which included a slice of Cheesecake Factory's cheesecake for V-day. I was counting down the days and so excited. We were going to go last night but due to lack of planning ahead and a long wait at the CF, we didn't go. I seriously had tears in my eyes. I was so disappointed. 

Maybe it's more than disappointment. Could it be I like things to go my way? Or that I feel a need to control things? Sometimes I get so frustrated at myself, thinking "it's not a big deal, get over it". But I feel things so deep, whether it's joy or pain, excitement or disappointment; I am a passionate person. 

And so here you have my honesty. 

excited.

ex·cite

   [ik-sahyt]  Show IPA

verb (used with object), -cit·ed, -cit·ing.

1.

to arouse or stir up the emotions or feelings of

2.

to arouse or stir up (emotions or feelings)

3.

to cause; awaken: to excite interest or curiosity.

4.

to stir to action; provoke or stir up

When I was younger, I would get so excited about life and what was going on around me that at times, I remember literally having to take deep breaths to calm myself down. It was like my heart was so full of life I could hardly contain myself. My art teacher claimed I had a touch of ADD. I think it was just a love for life! 

I thought I had outgrown this hyper-like state of excitement. But over the past couple of weeks, that heart-is-so-full feeling has been spilling out and at times, I feel I can hardly breathe! 

God has been taking me on an amazing journey.  At times, I find myself being critical and judgmental of people I don't really know (I'm just being honest here!) One of my new years goals is to LOVE people unconditionally; to see them the way that God sees them. WOW! What an amazing journey it has been in just the 1st month of this year!!! God has been revealing things to me, and as I obey Him, relationships are being mended and bridges in friendships are being strengthened (and built!). And I KNOW it's God because of how much my heart has changed. 

I feel "stirred to action; awakened". I may not be working my dream job or living what looks to be a glamorous life, but God can use me right where I'm at! It's a choice I have to make to listen to Him. And man, does He speak if we just LISTEN! 

As you can see, I'm EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!! 

Ephesians 3:20

The Message (MSG)

 ²⁰God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. 

planning . . .

"Sometimes the best surprises in life are the unplanned ones". 


I am a planner. I like to know who, what, when and where. I also love surprises. But so many times I ruin surprises by trying to figure everything out. I like to be in control, but I'm learning in this season of life that sometimes there are things beyond our control - and that's where trusting in God is HUGE. 


I guess the cat is mostly out of the bag anyway so I'll just free it completely . . . Durrell and I are putting our house on the market sometime this spring. We are taking steps towards moving to Texas. M O V I N G!!! Oh wow. We are excited! So excited. And yes, a little nervous at the unknown (again, the planner in me!). But we are walking in trust. Though our exact steps may be a little foggy now, we are just putting one foot in front of the other and launching into this new season.


The above quote was said to me by a co-worker when I was telling her about Texas. I mentioned to her how I like to know what's next. Her words have stuck with me and re-assured me that even though I may not know exactly what's next, God does. And I think we're going to be very surprised at what is to come! Can't wait to see what's next!!

I'm on a posting roll :)

Since I am not working as much, I have gotten into an organize everything mode! And with that comes some crafty-ness as I try to find homes for un-organized things . . . like CHRISTMAS CARDS!

I love getting Christmas card photos from friends! It's fun getting the mail around the holidays, knowing that there will most likely be a photo card from a friend. But what to do with all those photos AFTER Christmas?? I've heard of friends that throw them away. I couldn't bring myself to do that, so up until today, they have been stashed in envelopes in closets.

Thanks to this fun idea on Pinterest, I now found a fun way to keep, organize and display Christmas greeting card photos. 

Front - I just printed on card stock! 

punched holes in all the photos . . . 

and used ribbon to tie them together . . . the back is a blank piece of cardstock . . .

while I was at it, I did 2009 and 2010!

Guess it's time to go clean now. I'm sure I'll find more organizing along the way :)

In the New Year . . .

I love the beginning of a new year. There's something fresh, new and exciting about it. I'm not really one to make "resolutions". Instead, I like to write out goals. I have to admit that last year, not many of my goals were accomplished . . . But I feel like last year things were set in motion to make some of those goals happen this new year. 

My word for 2012 is TRANSITION.

tran·si·tion

   [tran-zish-uhn, -sish-]  Show IPA

noun

1.

movement, passage, or change from one position, state,stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change:

I am excited and a bit nervous for this new year. I feel there will be a lot of transition and changes taking place, but the end result of those changes will be above and beyond what we can imagine. Durrell and I want more of God and have come to the conclusion we will do whatever (and go wherever) it takes to get more of Him and His presence. One of my personal goals this year is to reach out to others more and love unconditionally. That sounds easy enough, right? For me, it is quite difficult. Not really the loving unconditionally part so much as the reaching out part! I love people, and yet, I love my personal time. I'm good at saying hello and being friendly, but when it comes down to giving up MY time to invest in someone else's life, that is difficult for me. I will work on this! :)

And so begins a new year. Let the good times roll :)