Canning So Far.....

So this is what I have been so busy with over the past week.

17 jars Sweetheart Applesauce -

 I used cinnamon heart candies to flavor

and sweeten the applesauce and it turned a pretty pink color too.

 

11 jars spaghetti sauce -

now I have a healthy fast food option for those busy days

30 jars of sour cherry walnut conserve -

really yummy

3 jars carrot jam -

small batch but it sounded interesting and I had to try it,

 it tastes like marmalade

 28 jars of  sour cherry jam-

also really yummy

 

5 jars maple blueberry walnut conserve -

again really yummy

30 jars of carrots -

I found 5 pound bags of carrots on sale for $1.50 each

so I only paid $6 for all these carrots

6 jars of spiced apple juice -

this tastes like mulled apple cider and is good warm or cold

 

I have shelves in the laundry room but they were too far apart, so Rob went and found some wood and cut me a bunch of new shelves and put them up. So once all the jars are on the shelves I will take a picture and share that with you too.

 

 

 

Gratitudes

1. That I have such a great man that loves to do stuff for me.

2. That we have lots o healthy, homemade, yummy food put away.

3. That the boys are enjoying school and work.

 

Calgary Trip

On Tuesday we took a trip up to Calgary for Frank to see the specialist. Rob and Jake both managed to get it off so we all went up and made a day trip of it.

The doctor says that all the tests have come back normal so they are all a little confused. When she first walked into the exam room she looked really confused, Jake was sitting right beside Frank and she hadn't seen him before. She said that I tolde her Frank was a twin but she didn't know they were really identical. LOL!! Frank has an ultrasound scheduled for the beginning of September and then they want to do another MRCP in a few months. If everything continues to look normal she says they will have to assume it was just an infection causing the bile ducts to swell and the beading in the bilary tracts. And at that time they will start weaning him off of the medication. YAY!!

After we saw the doctor we went up to the Cross Iron Mills Mall and visited the Bass Pro Shop. It is definitely a favourite store of our family.

 

 

Gratitudes

1. That we got great news from the doctors.

2. That we had a fun and safe trip.

3. That Rob's surgery has been scheduled quickly.

 

Wordless Wednesday

Gratitudes
1. That I have such artistic children.
2. That we had a wonderful trip to Calgary yesterday.
3. That today is the twins first day of Grade 10.

Meal Plan Monday

Busy again canning, so I will make this quick.

Sunday - ceasar chicken salad
Monday - spaghetti
Tuesday -  eating out because we will be in Calgary for Frank to see the specialist
Wednesday - hamburgers
Thursday - fish
Friday - spinach quiche
Saturday - tuna melts


Gratitudes
1. That I am capable of canning and have air conditioning. I know in the winter we will really be grateful for it.
2. That everyone got the day off tomorrow so we are all going to Calgary as a family.
3. That Frank got a job at KFC.

Sunday Links

Arms and Heart That Ache :: A good reminder

Sour Cherry Jam :: Some ideas for sour cherries. I want to remember these because now I know where to get them.

Why I Love Being a Mom Lets Shout it Out Loud ::
- watching my kids help someone in need without being told
- listening to the girls giggling in the room
- seeing the twins in uniform, they are so handsome
- seeing my oldest cuddling with my grandson, she is a great mommy
- listening to David talk and thinking about how grown up he is sounding
- I'm not a cuddly type person but hugs from my kids are so amazing and I get lots of them because my kids are all cuddlers
-seeing their faces when they finally get a new concept



Gratitudes
1. That I got spaghetti sauce, sweetheart applesauce and spiced apple juice canned yesterday.
2. That today I will do a little more canning and then I am playing lego with Emily.
3.That they got Rob in or his hernia ultrasound very quickly.

Emily's 9th Birthday Party

Just a quick post of mostly pictures about Emilys birthday party. Got to get back to canning.

Candy Buffet

Table set with giant pineapple at end. The green fronds were skinny balloons that refused to stand up.

 

Raspberry creme and lemon creme cupcakes.

 

Presents

 

 

 

 

Gratitudes

1. That Emily had a great party and lots of great people to share it with.

2. That we went to the Back To School Bash at the Dreamcenter last nght and everyone had fun.

3. That I have more food that I got free or on a great sale to process.

Wordless Wednesday

Gratitudes
1. That there is a nice breeze coming in my window.
2. That today we are having Emilys 9th birthday.
3. That I have almost all the boys school stuff ready.

Meal Plan Monday on a Tuesday

I got this post ready yesterday and then got distratced and or got to post it. Oh well here it is just late.

Sunday - leftovers
Monday - chili
Tuesday - chicken ceasar salad
Wednesday - bbq hot dogs
Thursday - leftovers
Friday - spinach quiche

Wednesday is Emilys birthday party and she is pretty excited about it . So will have pictures of that later in the week.

Jake got a job at Wendys and is loving it, besides having sore feet. We had to get him new shoes for the job and then he started on Friday and has worked 8 hours everyday. Once his shoes are broken in and his body gets used to standing in front of a grill or cash register he will be fine.  They have been training him in the front and back and on closing. Frank usually does things first so I am really glad that Jake got a job first, as I think he has been feeling a bit left behind lately.



Gratitudes
1. That Emily asked me to make and glue a puzzle to put up on her wall, I enjoy doing them and it forced me to slow down for a day.
2. That I have ordered all of  Emilys curriculum now and am just waiting for it to arrive.
3. That a friend is going to lend me herjuicing pot and let me have the rest of her crab apples, I will make some crab apple liquer and try my hand at apple juice.

Sunday Links

My Not So Best Friends :: Great article and very true!!

Toy Kitchens and Greedy Worms :: Another great article.



Gratitudes
1. That we have air conditioning on hot days like this.
2. That Jake got a job and is really happy about it.
3. That Frank is home safe and sound.

  

Harvest Time

So the last few days I have been very busy which is why I haven't posted every day. On Tuesday my friends Kathleen, her daughter and Jane went apple picking with me and Jake. As you can see we got alot of apples. We put them all in my front yard and then sat in the grass dividing them up between us. We wanted to make sure we each got some of the really good ones and some of the damaged ones to make it fair. Then the next few days I was really busy processing all those apples.  Here is what I made : 

9 jars apple pie filling

33 jars of apple sauce

3 large jars of dehydrated apples 

49 more jars of apple sauce

I also went picking sour cherries last weekend and this is what I made from them:

1 jar dehydrated cherries

6 large jars of sour cherry liquer

This weekend I have decided to take it easy and not do much but there will be more harvest stuff later.

Gratitudes

1. That we have been blessed with so much free food.

2. That I know how to deal with all this free food so we can enjoy it.

3. The most important.....FRANK IS HOME TONIGHT!!

Crustless Spinach Quiche

A  friend gave me this recipe a few years ago, I have modified it a bit for our family and it has become one of our favourites.

1 pkg frozen spinach

3 green onions, chopped

18 eggs, beaten 

750 ml cottage cheese

2 cups grated cheese

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease pan. Combine al ingredients. Mix well and pour into baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until eggs are set.

I have played with the recipe alot and sometimes I add other veggies or bits of meat. And sometimes I sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Gratitudes

1. That I got 10 quarts of apple pie filling done last night.

2. That I got lots of apple sauce done and the dehydrator is almost ready for the next batch.

3. That the weather has been cool enough for me to get it all done.

Thank you God for the abundance of free food for my family!!!!!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Gratitudes

1. That the big storm last night didn't damage any of my plants.

2. That I went through some clothes and craft stuff and managed to fill another 2 large garbage bags to get rid of.

3. That Tracey, Riley and Matthew came out for a visit.

My Girls

I love this picture and it looks even cuter with the frame Tracey made for it. It had a magnet on it at one point but it had fallen off  so we put it on the file cabinet to get fixed and of course it fell in behind.  Of course we found it when moving the file cabinet last week and Emily decided just to tack it onto her bulletin board.

Gratitudes

1. For the huge amount of free apples we picked today.

2. That I had 2 great friends to pick apples with it made the day very fun.

3. That a storm just started and the rain is pouring down, I forgot to water the gardens today but I guess God saw they needed the water.

Meal Plan Monday

We stuck to the meal plan pretty good last week except 2 days. One day we ended up having leftovers because there were alot extra and I didn't want them to go bad. And the night we were supposed to have quiche we ended up having sandwiches instead. We had 2 egg cartons in the fridge and 1 had only 2 eggs left in it so I assumed (I know dumb...) that the other one was full. When I took them out to start dinner I found out that there was only 3 in the other one. Oh well lesson learned. Anyways here is this weeks menu:

Sunday - leftover
Monday - spaghetti
Tuesday - tacos
Wednesday - bbq chicken, Rob wants to use his bbq again
Thursday - leftovers
Friday - spinach quiche
Saturday - chili

I know we eat alot of leftovers but with only 1 teenager at the house the food isn't disappearing as fast as normal. Add onto that Rob's friend that works in a restaurant and keeps giving us those leftovers too and we end up with alot. I do take some of the stuff and make it into new dinners but sometimes it is just reheated and eaten.



Gratitudes
1. That there was a good sermon at church yesterday.
2. That there was a big thunderstorm last night and we got lots of rain and it cooled everything down.
3. That I went through my craft stuff and managed to get rid of a large box full.

Sunday Links

  photo source

Walking the Same Path :: A great article on making a marriage work.

Five Important Ways to Impact Your Home and Your World ::Very good article.

Glute Free Zucchini Bread Recipe :: Would like to try  making this soon.




Gratitudes
1. That there is a really nice breeze out, so we can leave the house open to air out.
2. That I managed to get all the sour cherries processed yesterday.
3. That the house is almost put back together again.

Dining Room

The dining roomand hallway are done now except putting up new moulding around the bathroom door. It cleans much cleaner and brighter now and all the books and school stuff is accessible, making it alot easier for all of us.

I used a soft yellow on this wall in the dining room and both walls in the hallway, it really brightens up a narrow hallway. I used the blue paint from the other walls and the kitchen to paint the trim on the whiteboard. It makes it stand out a little better. You can see the picture above the whiteboard, it is actually a clock that was made for me years ago. It has been hidden down the hall and covered in dust for I don't know how many years because it didn't work. Well I finally took a look at it and after fiddling with it for about 20 minutes I managed to get it working again. So it now has a place of prominence again and the clock I was using that I didn't really like has been put into the get rid of stuff. Which by the way is those bags you can see in the corner below the map. The world map is a new addition that I picked up at Costco for $7. Emily loves it and has spent alot of time already looking for places and looking at all the flags from the different countries.

This is the new bookshelves in the dining room. I love the fact that they are organized by categories so it will be alot easier to find things now. The file cabinet was moved out of the living room after I cleaned it out. The only thing I need to do now is too clean off the top shelf and the top of the file cabinet. We will be probably putting puzzles and board games up there.

This is the first part of the hall wall when you walk in the front door. The white screen is our digital picture frame now we can actually use it. You can see the missing moulding on the bathroom door and that will hopefully be done soon. Maybe next paycheck??

Gratitudes

1.That I had the opportunity to go and pick sour cherries today with my kids and a friend.

2. That there was a wonderful breeze out in the fields, it kept the bugs away and felt great.

3. That the owners gave me a recipe for sour cherry liquor(Rob is really excited about it).

Rob's New Toy

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, got too busy trying to finish up the painting and putting pictures back on the walls. We ended up heading out to buy paint to do the trim and borders because the can we had was almost empty. While we were at Rona, Rob was drooling over the bbqs. We had to get rid of ours since it was falling apart and not safe to use anymore, so have been on the lookout for a new one. Rob found one that he really liked and when I spoke to the sales person it turned out to be on clearance. Needless to say we ended up getting it and when we got home he had to set it up right away.

Gratitudes
1. That the work is done and I am now starting to put the house back together.
2. That my neighbour found someone who will let us pick their apples for free.
3. That my digital picture frame is up and plugged in, so now I can see all our pictures.

Wordless Wednesday

Doodles

Gratitudes

1. That we had a nice rain storm yesterday.

2. That I just need to put up pictures and then my dining room and hallway are done.

3. That today we are ordering Emily's curriculum for the year.

Emily

Emily was struggling with all the changes they were having in their classroom this past school year. The teacher she loved went on sick leave and they had a few different substitutes in. For a kid who doesn't like change it was very hard on her. The last sub was there for a month and Emily had finally gotten used to her and they found a full time teacher to take over. More stress. I talked to the new teacher and it turned out she majored in art, and she told me some of the art projects that she had planned. Once I told Emily about them she relaxed a bit and it wasn't a fight to get her to go to school. Her teacher made an extra effort with Emily, to help her settle into the new routine and it paid off  with Emily opening up to her. This teacher focused alot on hands on learning and that is Emily's learning style, so Emily is very excited about science now too.

They had a rock hound come in and talk to the kids about rocks, of course. Then they made dioramas. Art and science in one, Emily was in heaven.

Fun in gym practicing for Track and Field Day.

The did baking.

They learned about bugs and then had to combine two and make their own bug.

Painting

In bible class they learned about the Fruits of the Spirit.

Spanish Mother's Day Card

Gratitudes

1. That we have a working air conditioner to battle this heat we are having.

2. That the dining room and hallway are almost done.

3. That my kids get along so well and really enjoy spending time together.