3 Day Refresh

I have to confess.  I have eaten a lot of junk food lately.  When I say a lot, I don't really mean a few pieces of candy here or there.  I mean regularly, I have not been eating my veggies (bad example for my kiddos there), I have not been drinking nearly enough water, and I definitely have been eating too many sweets lately (in the past week, I'm ashamed to admit, I have eaten 3 Cinnabon cinnamon rolls).

To remedy this, I have decided I am going to start working out regularly again and eating in a healthier fashion.  I am having engagement photos taken in approximately 3 months, and I certainly don't want to be bloated due to poor diet or carrying extra weight from the summer in the photos.  Last year, I was following the 21 Day Fix exercise and meal plan (I'll blog about this later, as I plan on following it again).  I've decided to start that up again, but I think I need to kick it off with a cleanse or something to get out of the habit of eating so much junk and to hopefully start things off on the right foot.  In comes the 3 Day Refresh.

The 3 Day Refresh is a Beachbody product.  Am I a coach and trying to promote the product because I will make commission off of it?  No.  (Just a note, I have friends who are Beachbody coaches, and they promote the products because they work for them, not because of the commission).  Do I know if this product will work for me?  No.  But, according to the testimonials it works.  And according to some of my Facebook buddies, it works.  So we will see.  Worse comes to worse, there is a 30-day money back guarantee (minus s&h of course).  

I plan on starting the 3 Day Refresh on Friday, then following it up with starting the 21 Day Fix on Monday.  The 3 Day Refresh is basically three days of veggies, fruits and healthy fats with a fiber drink, a high protein shake and shakeology.  The product guide recommends light to moderate exercise, so I probably will just continue with my normal weekend activities and not add any exercise into my regime until Monday when I've complete the cleanse.

I plan on sharing my experience with this product, so you can share in my possible hunger pains - as well as to hold myself accountable to the plan and to share whether or not the 3 Day Refresh even worked for me.

So let's do this.

Three Way Cherries

If you haven't been able to tell, I've been in a canning type mood lately.  I think just with all the fresh fruits and vegetables around, it makes me think of everything we miss out on during the cold winter months. 

Yesterday, a friend of mine brought over an absolutely gigantic bag of fresh Bing cherries.  Her husband found a great deal on them, so he picked them up for us to go on some more jamming adventures.  The first thing we decided to do with these beautiful cherries was to whip out a batch of fresh cherry jelly. I am so glad we did! It turned out so good. Much better than any cherry jelly I've had from the store by far. The recipe we used made 6 (8 oz.) jars of cherry jam, with just enough left over to enjoy over ice cream.  This jam is amazing!

After looking to see how many more cherries there were left, I decided we definitely needed to do something with them to keep them fresh.  I hadn't actually tried canning fruit before, just the jam, so the cherries became my experiment fruit for canning.

Following the normal procedures for canning, I first sterilized the jars.  After that, I stuffed the jars full of the pitted cherries, being careful not to fill them too full (You want the fruit completely submerged in the simple syrup).  I actually added a bit of a vanilla bean to each jar too, to add a slight vanilla bean taste to the cherries.  After that, fill the jars with simple syrup, leaving about 1/4" head space at the top of the jar. 

Then the jars were placed in the canner and boiled for about 15 minutes.  Then the jars were pulled and placed on the counter for 24 hours, to ensure the seal set correctly.

Even after making six jars of jam and six jars of canned cherries, there was a slight surplus of cherries.  With the last bit of cherries, I pitted them, and spread them over a cookie sheet and placed them in the freezer.

Once frozen, these were put into a freezer bag and sealed for later use. 

So there you have it.  Cherries, three different ways, ready for the winter months when cherries are either A) unavailable or B) too expensive to justify the purchase of said cherries.

Cherry Jam

3 cups finely chopped sweet cherries

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 box MCP Pectin

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Measure out sugar into a bowl.  Set aside.

Prepare fruit by pitting and chopping into fine pieces.  Measure out the exact amount needed into a 6 or 8 ounce sauce pot.  Add the lemon, cinnamon, and pectin to the cherries.  Stirring constantly, cook the fruit mixture until it has reached a rolling boil. 

One a rolling boil has been reached, add the sugar and stir until there are not clumps.  Bring mixture back to a rolling boil.  Once it hits a rolling boil again, time it for one minute.

Once the minute has passed, remove mixture from heat and can immediately.

Canned Cherries

from simplebites.net

2 pounds sweet cherries

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups - 2 cups sugar

vanilla beans

Wash and pit your cherries. 

Combine the water and sugar in a large saucepan.  Stir and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar.  Keep hot (But not boiling) while you prep your jars.

With clean hands, stuff as many cherries as you can get into each jar.  Fill to about 1/2" from the rim of the jar.  If you want to add vanilla to your cherries, add about a 1 inch piece of whole vanilla bean to the jar a s well.

Fill each jar with the hot syrup, stopping about 1/4" from the rim of the jar.  With a clean, hot, wet cloth, wipe the rims of the jars and place the sealers and lids on top.  Tighten with your hands.

Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Remove from the water bath, let cool, and listen for the pops.  To let the full flavor develop, let the jars rest a few weeks before digging in.  Refrigerate any jars that do not seal and enjoy immediately. 



Exuding Versatility: The Versatile Blogger Award

Have you ever heard of the Versatile Blogger Award?  Me neither.  Until recently that is.  Today I was checking the updates of the blogs I follow pretty regularly and low and behold, my friend Steve Madden (not the shoe maker) at http://travellerzero.wordpress.com/ had blogged about this award. 

After reading up on the history of it, It sounds like it is an award that is bestowed upon a blog by another blogger, pending of course, the strict adherence to a rigorous set of criteria (Ok, well maybe not rigorous, but they ask you do a few things if you are nominated/awarded it).  It is to honor other bloggers and basically give them warm fuzzies about how great they are and how they're writing affects you, whether they post something every so often, or every day.

Anyways, off of that rabbit trail.  While reading the latest and greatest from the Travellerzero Blog, I noticed that he had listed me as one of his fifteen nominations for the Versatile Blogger Award.  Before I go any further, I wanted to say Thank You to Steve Madden from the Travellerzero Blog.  I only recently started blogging and the while I personally have enjoyed putting some of my thoughts/ideas/recipes into words, I never actually imagined that anyone would enjoy reading them.  So, the fact that I was nominated is really heart warming to know that others enjoy reading what I'm thinking about as much as I enjoy writing it.

One of the rules of being nominated for this award is to list fifteen blogs that you've recently found or regularly follow that are worthy of being nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award due to being either versatile and/or mind blowing.  So here is my "list."

1.  Heavenly Homemakers:  I really don't remember where I originally found this blog, but the author, Laura, is amazing.  She blogs about her family's quest to eat healthy, as well as just the day to day life of being a parent.  She has some great recipes as well as always has enjoyable stories about her family.

2.  Defining Bliss:  This blog is written by one of my closest friends, April.  Originally she started the blog to be a cooking type blog, but it really has bloomed into more of a mish mash of different things such as make-up, cooking, books, and fashion.  She is actually the one who encouraged me to first start a blog and is always such an inspiration to me.

3.  Life's Crazy Joke:  This particular blog is one that I follow religiously.  Meredith is a hoot.  She always has something to say that makes me either laugh, or be able to relate.  She also has great advice in regards to human resource questions.  Amazing blog.

4.  Brittany, Herself:  This is another blog that I follow with stalker like passion.  I always feel like I can relate to what Brittany writes about in regards to parenting, and just other life situations that she faces.  Her kids are even almost the same age as mine, so I can relate just that much more.  When I need a laugh, this is my go to blog.  She originally was named The Barefoot Foodie, but then changed it (pretty recently actually) to Brittany, Herself (sorry for the similar name Brittany, I was lacking on ideas the day I named my own blog).  Brittany truly exudes versatility, always bringing fresh perspective, whether she's talking about her family, or the latest and greatest book she's added to her special book club.

5.  Untypically Jia:  Untypically Jia is a blog that really covers everything.  Jessica talks about her passion for make-up, her family, her struggles with infertility, mental illness, weight loss, her faith, and pretty much anything else she thinks up.  She is not only entertaining, but she is inspirational in her honesty on all the subjects that she talks about.  She doesn't sugar coat things, she says it how she sees it.  Her posts always are a breath of fresh air into the topics she explores.

6.  Travellerzero:  Truthfully, I know that Steve is the one who nominated my blog originally, but I think that he deserves this award as well.  Steve writes about his family, his books that he's written, and any other topics he feels like wandering off onto.  He is very passionate about his books and his writing, and they are good books.  His passion for his books comes out in his writing.  If you haven't read his blog or checked out his books, you should.  The books he's written (Ascension, The Four-Year-Old Guardian, and Shadow Walker among others) are well articulated and the way he writes just draws you into the world of these characters that he's created.

7.  Annie's Eats:  I originally found Annie's blog from another cooking blog that I follow (The Comfort of Cooking).  Annie is absolutely fearless in the kitchen.  She always has fresh ideas for not just desserts, but pretty much anything that can be whipped up in the kitchen.  Her beautifully photographed dishes always make me want to get into the kitchen and do something.  She is creative and has a flair for making things just look as good as the taste.

8.  The Comfort of Cooking:   The Comfort of Cooking was probably one of the first blogs I ever really followed.  Georgia is amazing in the kitchen.  Her dishes always look so professional in the pictures she takes for her blog.  She is versatile in the types of foods she makes and always adds her own pizzazz to dishes that is refreshing to see.  This is a food sight that I follow closely for ideas of things to whip up in my own kitchen.

9.  Six Sister's Stuff:  The Six Sister's Stuff blog is a compilation of recipes and other topics that a group of sister's started since they aren't all in one spot.  They mainly have recipes and DIY type stuff on their site.  They have tons of crock pot style recipes.  I've made dozens of things from this site, and all of them are delicious.  I don't think I've gotten a bad recipe from here yet.  This site is the go to site when I'm not sure what to feed my family.

10.  The Oatmeal:  The Oatmeal is quite frankly one of the funniest things I've seen on the internet recently.  The comics are always funny and almost always have references to current pop culture.  Found this blog in a link from another blog I read pretty regularly.  It is hilarious.  Check it out.

11.  I'm an Organizing Junkie:  The name really says it all for this one.  Laura writes about organization for all sorts of topics, ranging from food organization to household organization.  She does a link up party every Monday (Menu Plan Monday) that I link up to pretty regularly.  Her site is a fantastic place to find ideas when looking for ideas of what to make for the week.  She regularly posts delicious recipes and is a great place to find new recipe blogs.

12.  Cozycakes Cottage:  The Cozycakes Cottage is another cooking blog (if you can't tell, I really like to cook).  She has some really delicious recipes and some really cute decorating ideas on her site.  One of the best bread recipes I've made to date I found on this site (English Muffin bread).  Drool worthy.

13.  Bakerella:  Bakerella is the woman with whom the cake pops originated.  She is so creative and full of imagination when it comes to the way she prepares her desserts.  She is an amazing baker.  When I am looking for new ideas on something that needs to be not only tasty, but also look completely professional and amazing, this is the place to go.  She posts some great ideas on decorating, as well as shares her wisdom that she's gained from her own experiences.

14.  100 Days of Real Food:    This is a blog I actually recently just started reading.  The author, Lisa, blogged about taking her family on a journey of going from processed foods to more 'real' foods.  She posts plenty of recipes that utilize less processed items in an effort to create a healthier menu.  I love this site as it has plenty of healthy alternatives to things that my family normally would just buy from the store.

15.  Shauna Glenn:  This is another blog I just recently started reading.  Her reading style reminds me somewhat of Brittany, Herself and Life's Crazy Joke, but not exactly.  She writes about an assortment of things, and while I'm not super familiar with her blog yet, I think it is one I am really going to enjoy.

The other piece that goes along with the whole being nominated thing is that you're supposed to tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself, so here it goes.

1.  I work full time as the Administrative Assistant for the Paratransit Department of the local Transit.

2.  I am the mother of three amazing children:  Jaycob, Sydney, and Ashton.  The older two boys are in school now, but Sydney is my stay at home child for now.

3.  I love to cook.  It is a passion of mine.  I enjoy being able to create something greater than the single parts it's made up of. 

4.  Although I have 3 children, I am an absolute clean freak.  I cannot stand for my house to be dirty.  It drives me insane.  If it is dirty, I cannot relax until the mess is cleaned up.  It's like the dirt is taunting me otherwise.

5.  I am a sleep talker.  There has been numerous times my husband thinks I am awake and so will talk to me, and I will have no recollection of the conversation at a later point.  I've also taken the opportunity to vehemently deny purchases in my sleep that I clearly had made.

6.  When I am not spending time with my children or in the kitchen, I love to read.  It really doesn't matter what.  I like to read science fiction, romance, horror, action, etc. etc.  I really don't stick to one genre, I am pretty much all over the board in this department.

7.  I probably will never own a pet of my own.  As a child I had horrible luck with animals.  I managed to kill practically every animal I ever owned.  I ended several goldfish (accidentally let my cat eat them), a hamster (this one is up for debate, may have been natural causes), and a cat (I accidentally shut her tail in the door.  The tail fell off.  She ended up getting an infection and then had to be put down).  We did have a dog when I was little, but he escaped (my older brother adopted him), before I could do any damage to him.

If you want to know more about the Versatile Blogger Award, you can get that information here:

http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/vba-rules/

Here's the general rules for the award if you are nominated:

-  Thank the person who gave you the award/nomination - That is common courtesy.
-  Include a link to their blog... This again, is common courtesy.
- Select 15 blogs/bloggers that you have recently discovered or follow regularly that are amazing.    
- Then nominate them for the Versatile Blogger Award.
- Tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.
- Let your nominees know

"Jam"-ing Out: 3rd Times the Charm

 ♫ ♫ ♫ Oops, I did it again ♫ ♫ ♫

No, I am not singing a Britney Spears song. (Although, as embarrassing as it is to admit, I did belt that song out into my hairbrush back in the day).  I am talking about making jam.  I have really been on a roll lately with this, so when my good friend April brought over fresh blueberries today, we did not hesitate to get going on some more jelly.

Since April's husband Richard picked these juicy little berries off a road side stand, we had to go through and check for stems and leaves.  (Truthfully, we would have gone through them even if they came from the grocery store).  To get this task done, we employed my daughter Sydney.  She was more than happy to oblige.

After going through the berries, we rinsed them off in the sink with a colander.

Then these plump little things did the mash potato (well, not really; they got mashed with a potato masher)

Then, in a large saucepan, the blueberries, lemon juice, pectin, and water were brought to a rolling boil.  We also added about a teaspoon of butter to prevent any foaming incidents.

After the mix was brought to a rolling boil, the sugar was added.  Once the sugar was mixed all the way into the blueberry mash up, it was brought up to a rolling boil again.  Once the mixture hit a rolling boil, the timer was set for one minute.  Once the minute was up, the mixture was taken off the heat.

Then we canned the jam into 8 ounce jars.  The recipe yielded 8 (8 oz.) jars as well as just enough syrup to enjoy a nice scoop of ice cream.

Although I have enjoyed all of the jams we've tested out so far, this recipe is by far my favorite so far.  It has such a good flavor, in my opinion, I almost think it's even better then the store bought blueberry jelly.

Here's the recipe we used in case you'd like to try this one out.  It's actually the recipe from the MCP (pectin) package, but with the addition of the butter and a bit of cinnamon.  So good.

Blueberry Jam

3 3/4 cup crushed blueberries

6 cups sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup water

Approx. 1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. butter

1 pkg. MCP pectin

Prepare berries.  Crush 1 cup at a time, using a potato masher for best results.  Do not puree, jam is meant to be a little chunky.

In a 6 or 8 quart saucepan, measure in the crushed blueberries, lemon juice, water, cinnamon, butter, and pectin.  Bring this mixture to a full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly.

Stir in sugar quickly (it's best to have the sugar measured out in a separate bowl before starting to cook the fruit), then return mixture to a full rolling boil and boil for 1 minute exactly.  Remove from heat.  Skim off any foam with a metal spoon.

Ladle jelly into prepared (sanitized) jars to within 1/4 inch of the top.  Wipe the rim of the jar with a damp towel land place sanitized lid on top,  Screw the band tightly on, then place in canner.  Water in canner should cover the top of the lid by approx. one to two inches.  Bring water to a gentle boil and process jars for 10 minutes.

Remove jars from water canner and set in a place where they will be undisturbed for 24 hours.  Once the jars are cooled, check the seals by pressing the middle of the lid with your finger (If the lid springs back, the jar did not seal correctly and needs to be refrigerated). 

Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.  Store unopened jams in a cool, dry, dark place for up to a year.  Refrigerated jam can be stored for about a month.

"Jam"-ing Out Part Deux

So the other day, I had my first canning experience, and I decided that I should not delay the second.  Yesterday I had my first attempt at canning, by myself.  While I had confidence that I remembered all the steps I had been shown the previous day, I still was a bit nervous about the whole process.  But I figure, practice makes perfect.

The recipe I chose to make this time around was for Strawberry Honey Jam. 

There was really not a whole lot to the recipe.  The first step was to cut up all of the fruit.  The recipe called for 6 pounds of strawberries

and 1 1/2 apples grated.

Once those were all prepped, throw the fruit as well as the honey and lemon in to a large pot on the stove for about an hour.  Once the berries start getting soft, mush them with something such as a potato masher. 

After the mixture is the consistency you would like, either can it, or prep it for the freezer, or refrigerate it for 4-6 weeks.

There were a few things that I learned from making this recipe.  First off, adding about a teaspoon of butter to the mixture when you first start to cook it is a must.  I cannot imagine how much it would have foamed while it was cooking if I had not added it.  Second, mixing is a good thing.  I left the kitchen for about twenty minutes while cooking it, and I came back to a little bit of jam burnt to the bottom of the pan.  Luckily, I was able to salvage 4 pints of jam, but sadly, 2 were lost due to my inability to focus on one thing at once.

Other than that, I think the recipe turned out great.  The kids all said it tastes just like the strawberry jam we buy from the store, while on the plus side, I know exactly what's in it (and I can say/spell all the ingredients without a dictionary).

Here's the recipe for the jam I made Saturday as well as the recipe for the apricot pineapple jam from Friday:

Strawberry Honey Jam
from 100 Days of Real Food Blog

6 pounds strawberries and/or blueberries, local/organic recommended

3 ¾ cup honey

1 ½ unpeeled apples, grated

1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice

1. Make Jam: Rinse the berries and remove any spoiled or severely blemished ones. Hull strawberries and slice in half.
2. Add the berries, honey, grated apple, and lemon juice to a large pot over high heat. Once the mixture comes to a boil, lower the heat to medium and allow the mixture to continue to boil lightly for approximately 30 – 60 minutes. The berries will burst and thicken so be sure to scrape the sides of the pot and stir as you go. The longer the jam cooks the thicker the final product will be.
3. Mash the fruit with a potato masher once the fruit begins to soften. If foam forms on top of the fruit you can skim and discard if desired.
4. Prepare Jars: Meanwhile fill the canning pot ¾ full with water, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. If you don’t have your jars sterilizing in a hot dishwasher you can use this pot of water to sterilize them. Also start a small pot of boiling water to sterilize the lids separately. Be sure to wash all jar pieces in hot soapy water first.
5. Once the water is boiling turn off the heat. Test the temperature with your thermometer and when it reaches 180 degrees F put the jars and bands in the large pot and the lids in the small pot. Leave everything in the hot water until ready for use, removing one at a time as needed.
6. When the jam is done cooking do a taste test to make sure the thickness and flavor is to your liking. Hint from Ashley: Drop dots of jam on a cold refrigerated plate, if it seems to set up, it is done. You can also see if it coats the back of a spoon.
7. Remove the first jar from the hot water using your jar lifter tool and shake out excess water. Don’t touch inside of the jar in order to keep it sterilized. Insert clean canning funnel and ladle the jam into the jar leaving ¼ inch headspace at the top (this is where the headspace tool can come in handy – leaving more space at the top might not give as good of a seal). If there are any air bubbles you can slide a clean knife along the inside of the jar to remove them. Using a clean rag wipe excess off the outside of the jar and rim.
8. Using a magnetic lid lifter pull the first lid out of the hot water and set on top of the jar without touching the bottom of it. Then while only touching the outside of the band screw it onto the jar just firmly enough so it doesn’t feel wobbly on the grooves. Repeat until all jars are filled.
9. Note (If you don’t want to actually “can” the jam): You could stop here and refrigerate jam for 3 – 4 weeks. To freeze the jam make sure you used freezer-safe jars, allow it to cool, and put in freezer for up to one year.
10. Process the Jars: Bring large pot of water back to a boil. Using your jar lifter (or canning rack) carefully lower as many jars that will fit without overcrowding into the boiling water so they are covered by at least 1 – 2 inches of water. It is recommended that the jars do not directly touch the bottom of the pot (so hot water can flow beneath them) and some even suggest putting a dish towel on the bottom to create space. From the moment the water is boiling and the entire first batch of jars are submerged set the timer and process them for 10 minutes.
11. When 10 minutes is over use the jar lifter to carefully remove the jars from the water. Put them on the counter and don’t move them right away. You will hear your jar lids “popping” which means they have been sealed properly. If jars aren’t sealed within 12 hours then move them to the fridge and eat within 3 – 4 weeks.
12. Remove bands from sealed jars and with a clean, wet cloth wipe off any jam that has congealed on the outside rim of the jar. This prevents mold from forming on the band. The band can be reapplied, but don’t screw them on too tightly.
13. Label jar and store in a cool, dry, dark place for up to 1 year.

Apricot Pineapple Jam
(From the MCP insert)

4 cups apricots, diced into chunks
1 cup pineapple, diced into chunks
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 package pectin (I used MCP brand)
8 cups sugar

Put apricots, pineapple, lemon juice, and pectin into a large pot on the stove.  Heat to a rolling boil.  Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add sugar.  Mix unitl there are no chunks of sugar, then bring back to a rolling boil.  Once there, cook for 2 minutes.

After cooking the mixture for 2 minutes, fill your jars and process for canning.