3 Batches of Jam and 3 & 1/2 gal. bags of Frozen Strawberries

When it comes to canning I’m not that thrilled…yes, I love the home preserved food…but I don’t really have a canner. I have this…

…it’s a make shift canner…and it works…but I get burnt all the time because there isn’t a basket…I use a large mesh colander to keep the jars off the bottom…anyway, since there isn’t a basket I can only fit 6 - ½ pints in at a time…it takes forever to can anything.

So with that scary pot above and 5 cups of strawberry puree.

Plus 7 cups of sugar and one box of Pectin...

...mixed all together

You get strawberry jam... but only 1/3 of this. You have to to that two more time to get all this jam!

I was just finishing up my second batch of the jam and my brother walked in with this!!!! I can't tell you how thrilled I am. *doing a happy dance*

This is the last of the strawberries getting ready to be frozen.

I'm truly thankful for my new canner and all this free produce!

Look Out Freezer Here We Come!

My brother and I went to my favorite “store” today and came home with three flats of strawberries and two boxes of butternut squash…for free! I spent $1.39 on the granola bars. My table isn't big enough to take pictures of all the boxes of strawberries and squash...so you only get to see one. :o)

I’ll be making strawberry jam and ice cream with the strawberries. Yummy!

I’m not sure what I’ll do with all the squash…I guess I’ll be freezing most of it. It will be easy to make a puree with about a 1/3 of it. Then chunks with the rest. Rich likes chunks of butternut squash in roasted veggies…roasted with other veggies and in pie is the only way Rich will eat squash.

Of course I'll be cooking some to eat right now. I was thinking about making these...

Apple Squash Crisp

Butternut Squash Soup

Roasted Veggies

Garlicky Baked Butternut Squash

Desert Tortoise

We found a Desert Tortoise this weekend just walking down our street. We live right across the street from the zoo and these just wander around there...we think it escaped. LOL We took it to Mt. Lemon...just at the base (before all the nice trees and such) there is an old concentration camp that we like to take the girls to when they get the gimmies…which hardly ever happens because they are such great kids…...anyway after doing some reading it looks like that would be the perfect habitat.

Here she (yep, we found out how to tell if it's boy or girl) is in her new home. Near a brook...lots of desert and rocks...plus lots of shade trees...AND far away from the road. :o)
If you want to more about the Desert Tortoise this site is great!

Happy Independance Day!

Clear Play DVD Player

I saw this on House Of Whimsy's blog and now I want one! It would make watching movies with the girls so much easier!!! The DVD player is about $80 and there is a monthly fee of about $8...but I think it might be worth it. :o)

Do you have one of these? If you do...please leave a comment and tell me what you think of it.

Pizza and Cupcakes

Mmmm...Homemade pizza! I don't think any other pizza comes close to homemade. I used this recipe for dough and sauce. I added garlic and fresh basil to the sauce and my family loved it.

This one didn’t have jalapeños on it…but it was devoured just the same. :o)

His and Hers cupcakes. Chocolate with peanut butter frosting and extra mini marshmallows for my husband. Chocolate with raspberry glaze and mini white chocolate stars for me. :o)