I Can Can

I've been fascinated by the idea of canning for awhile now.  I love love love freezer cooking, but let's face it - a person only has so much freezer space!  Last year I bought all the typical canning equipment, only to come home and realize there was a warning on the enamel pot that it shouldn't be used on a smooth top stove.  My dreams of having shelves stocked full of delicious foods faded away, and I sadly returned all my goodies.

After talking to many people and doing more research over the course of the year, I came to the conclusion that I would re-try the Great Canning Experiment.  This time, I started with a different pot.  I heard from several sources that a stainless steel pot would work better on the smooth top stove, because it doesn't have the ridges on the bottom like an enamel pot, and it holds the heat better.  So I bought a stainless steel canner, thinking if the worst happened and I hated canning, at least I could use it for when I make huge batches of spaghetti sauce.  At the time I bought it, it was not only available at a great sale price, but came with all the extra tools I needed - funnel, jar gripper, etc.  Winning!

I also purchased two highly recommended books - the Ball Complete Book of Home Preservation and You Can Can! - yes, the latter was mostly because I love a good pun.  These books have proven to be very valuable sources of information.  If you are a canning beginner, or just looking for more recipes, they are great ones to add to your cookbook library - although there are many recipes you can find online (free!)

This post is not going to include any step-by-steps or how-tos, but look for those in the near future!  Instead, for now I am going to share some pictures, recipes, and links I have found helpful.

Here's what my canning shelves are currently looking like:

Yay for shelves in the dark cool basement - perfect for my jars!

And the list of what I've made so far (with links if I have been able to find the recipes online)...

• Peach Butter (Ball book)
• Peach Jam (Ball Book)
• Peach Fondue (Ball Book)
• Peach Salsa (You Can Can)
• Peach Pie Filling
• Honey-Packed Peaches
• Peaches in light honey syrup
• GG's Pickles (3-day Lime Pickles)

 

• Pizza Sauce (Mrs. Wages packet)
• Sweet Pickle Relish (You Can Can)
• Lemon Ginger Marmalade (Ball book but also found in a step-by-step format with pictures at Wendolonia)

I love seeing those flecks of lemon peel as the light shines through!

Yep, I've been having some FUN with canning!  And it wasn't even a difficult learning process - as long as you can follow instructions, you will be fine!

It's apple & pear season now....can't wait to get the canning started!!

If you are interested in canning, you can follow my I Can Can Pinboard here!

What have YOU been canning????

What We've Been Up To

...and suddenly it's been almost 2 months since an update!  We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our summer...had the annual trip to the beach, lots of day trips to Baltimore, relaxed & played together, I had a blast and an awesome several months with my Thirty-one Gifts business, and I even taught myself to can ---- those posts will be coming shortly ;)

Now that school has started (can't believe I have a 1st grader!!), I'm once again hoping to be a little more regular on the blog.  Even if no one reads it anymore, I'd like to keep it up for our own family records.  (If you are reading this.....wow!  Hi!!)

Here's a few pics of our summer fun....

 I'll be back soon! 

Yard Sale Fundraiser

At the end of June, we put together what we were praying would be a major fundraiser for our adoption.  We had been tentatively planning a yard sale since last summer, knowing they are pretty popular fundraisers for adoptive families.  So since last summer, we have been collecting other people's junk (or treasures depending on how you look at it....we actually had some really NICE stuff!)  Our basement was FULL!

We were very blessed that our church allowed us to use our youth center/gym to hold the yard sale.  This was such a huge blessing for two main reasons....1) It was indoor, so we could have it rain or shine!  We did have a major storm go through, so we were soooo happy to be dry and sitting inside!  2)  I was able to set up for the sale all week at my own pace, instead of mass craziness the night before.

The kids and I spend pretty much a full work-week at the gym preparing for the sale.  I have never lifted so many boxes.  It was organized chaos.  There was so.much.stuff.  The donations we had been saving, plus my post-Radical house purge, and then a friend who had leftovers from her own fundraising yard sale donated the rest of her stuff.....which happened to be an entire trailer load!  We were blessed!

Deciding it was best to spend our time sorting & organizing items rather than pricing them, we decided that everything would be for sale BY DONATION.  This was a little scary for me.  I was imagining someone saying "I'll take it all!" and giving $1  :)  But I knew it was the right thing to do.  And aside from a few circumstances where the situation was taken advantage of, people seemed to be very generous!  Thank you, Lord!  For those who were "less than generous," it is my hope that we were a blessing to them, and that they needed the items more than we needed the money!!

We were also thankful for the help we received - since Jon was working all week, I really could not have done it without the help of a few people.  I don't know that they read this blog, but I will mention them by name anyway - thanks to Jill & Amanda for spending an afternoon organizing, to Sherrie who literally kept me sane and was there several days & nights helping - from set up to tear down, and to our 4 favorite guys - Tyler, Nathan, Kaleb & Eric for being there when it started and helping box up all the leftovers.  We were so blessed by all your help & hard work!

Here's a few pictures so you can see the crazy amount of stuff we had.  We did get compliments from people saying it was the most organized yard sale they had ever been to!  We also had some people wondering if we were open every weekend ;)  Sorry, just a one time only yard sale, not a flea market!

 Wondering about our grand total?  Let me start by saying I was praying for $1000.  I was thinking this would be an amazing almost unattainable goal to reach.  If we got to $1000, we would know for sure it was a God-thing.  Well, amazingly enough, we didn't hit $1000.  We blew $1000 out of the water!!!!  Our grand total ended up being......

$1516.50!!!!!!

Glory to God!!!!  We stand amazed at the way He is providing for this adoption.  Who knew lots of "junk" could raise so much money?!

Speaking of junk, here's what we had left over....

Let me just say getting rid of this has not been my favorite part of the yard sale!  :)  But still, we are SO THANKFUL!!!!

7 Months DTE

Here we are, 7 months into our wait!

source

 Our agency had a flurry of referrals a week or so ago.  It was incredible and gave us a decent shot of HOPE!  For the first time since we have been DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia), our unofficial number in the toddler boy line has decreased overall!!!  (We started at #19 but because of request changes from those ahead of us, our number climbed pretty quickly).

So here's where we are (unofficially):

Infant Boy (<18 months) = #58

Twins/Young Siblings = #28

Toddler Boy = #18

 We have also had some great things happening in the fundraising department!  Hoping to find time to post about our recent yard sale fundraiser soon!

6 Months DTE

Wow, no posts in an entire month?  I will catch up soon, hopefully at least!  I'm at least remembering to mark our monthly DTE-iversaries.  So were we are.....6 months!

hahaha, this pic is just cracking me up tonight!  (source)

Hard to believe it was half a year ago when our dossier was finally complete and headed to Ethiopia!!

And here are our (unofficial) standings:

Infant Boy (<18 months) = #67

Twins/Young Siblings = #33

Toddler Boy = #22

In fundraising news, we are planning a yard sale at the end of this month.  We have already received some donations, and we are thrilled!  We are able to use our church's youth center gymnasium, so rain or shine, we will be able to do this thing!!  It will be a lot of work setting up, but we're excited about the way God provides.  Please keep us & this fundraiser in your prayers!

5 Months DTE

So yesterday marked 5 months since our dossier headed to Ethiopia.  I held off posting because I was hoping I might hear of someone's referral.  Unfortunately there weren't any.

Here's where things (unofficially) stand.

Infant Boy (<18 months) = #69

Twins/Young Siblings = #34

Toddler Boy = #24

Last month I was very thankful for no movement in the toddler line (because no movement is better than backwards, right?)  This month we moved backwards 2 spots.  Boo.  That's pretty much all I have to say about that.

PS:  This has absolutely nothing to do with our adoption, except for the fact that it is one of our main fundraisers....I have started a closed facebook group for my 31 business.  If you don't already have a preferred consultant, and would like to stay up to date on all the news & specials, you can request to join the group here. 

Pizza Fridays: 2 Ways

In an effort to make life a little easier as far as meal planning & preparing goes, I have officially declared Fridays as pizza nights at our home!  We've been at it a few weeks now, and we all look forward to Pizza Fridays!

I love pizza.  I could probably eat it every single day.  Hot, cold, lukewarm....doesn't really matter.  It's kind of the perfect food.  I also love the variety you can have with pizza.....it's not just about cheese & pepperoni!

The first Pizza Friday we did have just the normal pepperoni and cheese kind.  I used this recipe (from my dear college roomie) for the dough.  I had some string cheese so i cut it lengthwise and wrapped it in dough around the edges - stuffed crust!

There is just something sooooo good about homemade pizza!!!

Our real favorite though, is grilled pizza.  Have you tried it?  I love that the weather is getting warmer and we can grill more....pizza on the grill is delicious!  Here's the recipe we use (courtesy of another dear friend.....my friends make some good pizza!!)

Ingredients:

• 2 c flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 pkg quick rise yeast
• 3/4 c warm water
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Add the yeast into warm water and let sit for a few minutes.  Make sure it gets foamy, or else you need new yeast!

Mix yeast mixture with the rest of the ingredients.  It works perfectly in my KitchenAid with the dough hook attachment!

Let rise.

Divide into 4 or 5 sections and roll out, adding flour as necessary.  Spray both sides with cooking spray.  (I roll ours out pretty thin....use your own judgement on this one!)

Grill over medium heat until it is cooked enough to flip....you'll be able to tell when it's done.  Instead of flipping, now is the time to add the toppings to the grilled side!  We like to set out a topping bar like this one....

Pizza sauce, pesto, ham, pineapple, bacon, spinach, green peppers, pepperoni, mozzarella, parmesan, red pepper flakes, italian seasoning.......anything you want.....time to clean out the refrigerator!

Here's J with his pizza.....so proud!!

Now that the toppings are on, grill again until dough is cooked and cheese is melted!

ENJOY!!!

Linking to: Thrifty Decorating, For the Mommas, Craft-O-Maniac, Raising Homemakers, The Frugal Girls,