Food!!

Well, I have been working really hard to make this family healthy!  It has been met with a lot of whining, frustration and resentment, but I am happy to report that I have finally make a few things over the last couple of months that are considered wins!  Really all that I am doing is trying to cut back on the amount of crap and processed stuff I buy. It is difficult to comprehend how much I rely on the pre-packaged and already-made stuff.  What stuff I have been buying I have really been paying attention to the ingredients.  My goal is just to stay clear of artificial sweetners, high sodium, and artificially colored stuff.  That pretty much eliminates most stuff, but we are lucky enough to have a Trader Joes which gives me a few options including their version of Gogurts and cookies.  I have been trying to buy more nuts, fruit and make most of the other stuff they want to snack on.  The only thing I really can't find a good replacement for Goldfish which seems to be its own food group around here.  I suppose there are worse things.  So far, I have managed to also make some pretty yummy gluten-free stuff that the boys actually like.  I have been trying to replace a lot of the bread products around here mostly for me, but I think the boys will benefit too.  I found great muffin recipe that uses gluten-free flour, applesauce and honey to sweeten.  I usually make a couple of batches at a time and put them in the fridge.  I have also been making my own almond butter to replace the peanut butter.  The boys live off of peanut butter, but I think it just sits on my hips, so I wanted to try an  alternative.  Do you know why eating almond butter helps you lose weight? Because it is so freakin' expensive that you can only afford to buy it once a month.  That also goes for gluten-free bread!  Why is this stuff so expensive?  You would think that organic fruit and veggies would be cheaper as they do not have to use pesticides.  I grow stuff in my garden without pesticides and it cost me whatever my coffee cost as I use the used grounds to keep the bugs off of my veggies. And, to make it even better, my neighbor and I have discovered that Starbucks will give you their old coffee grounds!  Brilliant!  So far, it has worked like a charm, and there are no slugs in sight! At any rate, I am doing more and more research and using my family as guinea pigs as I try to make my own everything.  This past week was homemade strawberry jam!

We were pretty excited about our jam!  It could have been a little thicker, but it taste fabulous:-) To be honest, I had to look through several recipes and use the recipe that came in the package of pectin to make this happen.  I would like to give you an exact recipe, but I did a lot of guess work which is probably why it didn't thicken up as it should have.  I basically used about 8 cups of strawberries and pureed them in my food processor.  Then I boiled them adding the pectin (just one box) after the boiling about 5 minutes.  Then I slowly stirred in 5 cups of sugar until it disolved and boiled it for about another minute.  I made sure to heat up my jars in boiling water before I poured the mixture into the jars (slowly, it is very hot).  I then sealed my jars again in boiling water.  The jam will keep for about a year in the pantry.  Once opened, you will need to finish the jam in 7-10 days! 
Happy jam making!