little miracles

The other day Elton came home with 2 boxes of peaches. Plus I had a bowlful of tomatoes waiting to be played with. So I stayed up after the kids went to bed and changed this... Into this...

Isn't that amazing? After all the stress and several hours of work (when I would rather have been crafting), I'm happy with the results. And I'll be even happier when I get to enjoy them this winter. Mmm!

the sweet life

So, not too long ago I posted about my 30 day no-sugar challenge. When I was single I often pushed myself to go a week or two without sugar. Why is it that now that I have kids I have no willpower for this stuff??? I did it for 4 days, then went camping with the Swanson's and sat around looking at all kinds of sweets and caved in. I came back and started up again, but realized I need to do more than go 30 days with no sugar. That's not really a lifestyle change. I know I can't give up sugar for the rest of my life. What I need is to eat less sugar every day from here on out. So that's why I've started little changes. Like keeping lots of fruit around for some of those sweet cravings. And cutting the sugar in half for some of my everyday recipes. (Guess what? They're actually still good with less sugar!)

I'm a bum. I couldn't finish the challenge. Am I rationalizing things by taking this new twist? Yes, but for me I think it's a better change. One that will last.

{no} sugar, anyone?

I was recently inspired by a friend. She went 100 DAYS without sugar! Now, I know I could do 100 seconds. Probably could go 100 minutes. Maybe I could push myself to go 100 hours. Most likely NEVER 100 days!!! Nevertheless, it was inspiring. So, I thought I'd try to go 30 days without sugar. Does anyone else want to start this journey with me? I thought I'd start Monday the 20th and go until August 18.

The rules would be not to eat anything with sugar among the top ingredients; no baked goodies, treats, and such. Fruits would be fine, 'cause they have natural sugars. I've actually done this a week or two at a time before and really felt good physically and mentally. We eat so much sugar in this country, it's a wonder we don't ALL have twitchy limbs. I know this is just what I need. And, as a side note, maybe I'll lose some of this old baby weight at the same time :)

the harvest

Yay! This summer I've had the wonderful pleasure of canning 53 jars of yummy stuff! (Okay, I'm being a bit sarcastic here) We planted a small garden which grew many pounds of tomatoes, plus we have some fruit trees and grape vines that have been very abundant. Needless to say, in order to not waste what we have, I have had to do some canning. I've never done it alone before, and only seen it done a couple times, so this has been a big task. So far this is what's been collected:

22 jars of tomatoes
14 jars of grape juice (with Grandma Jo's help)
4 plum jam
4 "blue straw boys" jam (blueberry-strawberry-boysenberry)
3 blueberry syrup
3 peaches
3 pears, with many more awaiting the canning process

So that's what I've been up to lately. Anyone jealous?

Chocolates 101

I do not make chocolates or candies. But I found this recipe earlier this year and fell in love with it because it is SO simple! I made these again this weekend for a scrapbooking retreat and I thought I'd share the recipe.


Easy Decadent Truffles

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
3 c. powdered sugar
3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 1/2 t. vanilla

1. Beat cream cheese until smooth
2. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar
3. Stir in the chocolate chips and vanilla until no streaks remain
4. Put in fridge for 1 hour
5. Shape into 1 inch balls
6. Dip in chocolate and/or roll in desired toppings, such as ground nuts, cocoa, coconut, sprinkles, or powdered sugar