It's that time again

  

I bought 4 flats of the best strawberries on earth the last time I was in Olympia. I tried to get them whipped into jars of jam before anyone could steal more than just a few.  I was entirely unsuccessful.  We inhaled gobs of them.  Gobs and gobs.   

 

I just make the freezer version- no boiling water or sealing jars.  Yes, the recipe (inside the sure-jell box) calls for 4 cups of sugar and 2 cups of berries per batch.  It is a lot, but I didn't feel like experimenting with other lower sugar versions. Besides, this is the same recipe that my Grandma has been making for years.  It just wouldn't taste right if it were any different.   

I ended up with about 20 jars, which is great because we go through it quickly.  Last year we were out of jam by November!  Not only does it taste heavenly with this bread...but I love giving it away as well. It feels good to be stocked up. 

 

Try as I may, I simply cannot make this jam without covering almost every available surface in my kitchen with the sticky goodness.  It is a messy process....

 

But well worth it.

 

Too-da-loo!

Focus

My day-to-day activities have boiled down to just a few things:

Training- not as fun in the moment...but good to be getting stronger. I have a little more than a month to go and am now doing brick workouts (swimming and then hopping on my bike.  Or riding my bike and then running right afterward.)  Each workout takes about 1.5 hours.  Early morning is when it all happens.  There is something very natural about waking up early for me.

Reading- spending ALOT of time with Bella, Edward and Jacob. I'm devouring the final book now.  I have been surprisingly and embarrassingly emotional about it.  My family and friends absolutely love making fun of me over my obsession. I think that I'll stop making reference to it in every conversation.  I downloaded the soundtrack the other day.  This song helps me rock it out on the treadmill.

Eating.  All the exercise is making me hungry as a horse.  I haven't lost a single pound- perhaps the two are connected somehow? I don't know, what do you think?  Eating a lot and not losing weight? Isn't there some logical weight-loss explanation about calories in and calories out? I must've missed that somewhere along the way. Here are a few of the yummy things we've been eating.

 

Tilapia Puttanesca.  Okay, so my kids did not eat this one.  They made pb and honey sandwiches for themselves.  Apparently kalamata olives and capers are not their thing.

 

Four Bean Salad. Endamame might be my new favorite food.

 

Grilled Veggie Salad (from Feeding the Whole Family).  Basically you grill your favorite vegetables and some chicken- then coat them in this dressing:

4 T Olive Oil

3 T Rice Vinegar

2 T Brown Rice Syrup

1 T Dijon Mustard

2 T Poppy Seeds

1 t Dried Dill.

 Pile them onto a bed of lettuce and sprinkle with feta cheese.  Tasty.

 

Orange- Banana Popsicles.  I use this mold.  I love the shape that they turn out in- old fashioned or something.  The kids (and neighbor kids) love these! I pretty much make a new batch every other day.

Hope your days are slowing down too and that you are unloading all the "busy" stuff. Focus on your favorites.

Yummy

I bumped into my friend Holly at Costco the other day.  I asked what she had planned for the lovely looking bag of little peppers that she had in her cart.  Here is what she described to me:

 

 

 

 

  

Amazing!  So, so good!  You simply must try.