Homemade Fresh Strawberry Popsicles

Yesterday I shared some of the yummies we made with all of our strawberries we picked.

My kids favorite was the fresh fruit popsicles.  These were so stinkin' easy.  We will be

making plenty more of these over the summer and look forward to trying other fruits!

Simply take 2 heaping cups of strawberries...I think this was about 2 1/2 cups.

Place in a blender with 2/3 cup of white grape juice and puree.

Pour in popsicle molds or use small plastic cups, yogurt cups or Jell-O cups.

Freeze overnight.  This made 6 molds along with 30 mini ice cubes.

I'm thinking these fruity ice cubes will be perfect in a raspberry blue punch for the 4th!

 Enjoy some healthful goodness!

You may just like these more than the kiddos :)

Linking up at This Chick Cooks!

Strawberries Galore

What a beautiful day to pick strawberries!  We took the family to get our "pick" on along with another fan-tab-ulous family.  It was our first time...I THOUGHT 16lbs WOULD BE ENOUGH!!!  I was so wrong.  I really think I could have picked twice that, but we made do with what we had.

I made jam with the kids.  It was so nice to have my daughter cut the tops off...one less thing that I had to do.  We canned 9 pints and I will be canning another 9 tomorrow.  

I used the Certo Liquid Pectin instructions for Cooked Jam.  

Oh how I loved the "popping" sound of all by mason jar lids.

(My kids eat a lot of PB&J)

 We also used some strawberries for my favorite salad at dinner.  Nothing beats chicken, spinach, strawberries, candied walnuts and poppy seed dressing...mmmmmm!

My husband requested strawberry shortcake with homemade whipped cream for dessert!

....and last but not least

The kiddos requested strawberry popsicles.

These are soooo good.  I will post how I made them tomorrow!

A beautiful day ended on a sweet note :)

Hope you are making the most of these summer days!

Get Your Snack On...4th of July Style!

I came up with this idea and decided to surprise the kids with an extra special dessert...RED, WHITE and BLUE style.  So if you are hosting a 4th of July party this year, give this one a try.  The best part about this dessert cone is that it doesn't melt!

Ingredients
-sliced strawberries
-blueberries
-blue or red sprinkles
-filling
-12 Sugar cones

Filling
-8oz softened cream cheese
-3TBL softened butter
-2/3 cup of powdered sugar
-2TBL skim milk
-1/8 tsp of Almond extract
Beat on medium speed until smooth.  Put filling in a piping bag or zip-lock baggie with the corner snipped off.

I used a red wicker basket and filled it first with white beans, then a mix of Sour Cherry Bombs and Red and Blue M&M's.  Then I arranged my cones in the basket to fill.  Begin by piping a little filling into each cone and then strawberries.  Repeat this step again.  Top with more filling and then add blueberries on top, or sprinkles, or BOTH!!

Keep chilled until ready to serve...and then prepare to WOW your guests!

Alternatives to the filling:
-cool whip
-creamsicle dip, recipe here

KinderGARDENS Week 8

8yr old over the carrots.

This weeks "challenge" was to have our kids take pictures in the garden.  This was a good week to do that because not much else could be done.  We had some violent storms that whipped through last week...even had a tornado touch down just 10 minutes from us.  We NEVER have tornadoes.  The winds reached 80mph near us and bent a few stalks of corn.  I propped them back up and I am hopeful that will work.  We did finally get the trellis up for the zucchini and we had to add supports for one of our tomato plants...it's getting HUGE!  Our daughter came home from camp this week, so I am "one happy mudda" once again.  So without further ado...pictures brought to you be an 8, 7 and 4 yr old!  All pictures were taken by the kiddos and unedited :)

7yr old took picture of us and big sister before heading off to camp.

4yr old - before additional support was added to tomato plant.

4yr old - before weeding :)

7yr old - bean tunnel, only 3 of the 18 beans planted came up...planted 10 more.

Me and #3 taken by our #2 :)

He is so proud of his bean plant.

Camera in hands of 8yr old.

Zucchini - taken by 8yr old

8yr old took pic of me checking out the tomatoes

Our beautiful "pallet" lettuce taken by 8yr old

Linking up this week The Inadvertent Farmer.

Be sure to join in the conversation for Week 2 of the Summer Reading.

Summer Reading - Week 2

I hope you have been enjoying your book and finding a little time to escape.  Last week I asked the question:  What lies have you been believing?  I find myself often trying to please others.  It has been a work in progress.  I certainly feel like I have been doing better, but I am constantly reminding myself of Galatians 1:10 which says, Am I now trying to win the approval of man or of God?  Or am I trying to please man?  If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.


I have the companion guide for the book Lies Women Believe and one question asks what is the primary sources of input you have coming into your life.  Is it primarily T.V. and internet or friends and family.  Remember, what you filter in gets spit back out.

So ponder these 2 thoughts and let me now what you think in the comments.
-What is a lie you have been believing?
-What is your primary source of input in your life?

1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Read Chapter 2 for next week.

Find Week 1 here.

Summertime Refreshment Must Have

Let me first start by saying...TODAY IS MY 1YR BLOG-O-VERSARY!

I'm excited to do a give-a-way, but that 

will have to wait until next week.

You'll have a chance to win a tote bag!

Ok, on to the finer things in life...COFFEE! :)

I love a great Iced Caramel Macchiato in the summertime, but I really do hate paying the Starbucks pricetag.  Here is my homemade version that hits the spot...DAILY!!

Mmmmm, this is the good stuff!

 I have a DeLonghi Espresso machine and make a 3oz shot.

What you will need:

3oz of espresso (or very strong coffee)

2oz International Delight French Vanilla Creamer

10oz skim milk

2tsp of caramel

Directions:

Mix hot espresso and caramel.

(I hate when the caramel hardens on the ice cubes)

Pour milk and creamer over ice cubes and add espresso.

Shake vigorously! (I use a cocktail shaker)

Pour into your favorite glass, sit back and R-E-L-A-X!

Baby Girl to Big Girl Room Makeover

Last year I bought some paint for my daughters room.  She wanted a room makeover for her 8th birthday.  A few weeks after I bought the paint, I got a rug and duvet from Pottery Barn Teens...Paisley Pop Blue to be exact.  Being pregnant and miserable...the plans got derailed.  I had good intentions many a weekends, but my procrastination tired, baby wary self cried...NOOOOO!

Well, she is away at camp this week and I F-I-N-A-L-L-Y got it done!  Three cheers for me!  It took forever to get the painting done between all the nursing, diaper changes and older boys constantly asking for food...but alas...she will come home to a HUGE surprise.

 This picture doesn't show you the full on Lilac color that covered her walls.

She has a loft bed with this awesome corkboard that slides

 across the back side of the desk.

I plan on using this great idea for the empty awkward wall in the corner.

You can find it here and see it below.  She is my little artist and it would be a great 

way to keep all of her pens, pencils and drawing material organized.  I'll show 

you what I do in a future post.

Photo Courtesy of  LAISSEZFAIRE

She got these great dolphin and coral bookends from Papa Bear 

last year for her birthday and now they can finally be displayed.

KinderGARDENS Week 7

Not much new in the garden this week except for.....

PEPPERS!!!!!

STRING BEANS ARE CLIMBING!!!!

AND THE LETTUCE IS ACTUALLY GROWING!!!!!

ONCE THE LETTUCE IS "FLUFFY" ENOUGH, I WILL REMOVE THE NETTING.  I PUT UP THE NETTING THINKING THE DIRT MAY WANT TO FALL OUT, BUT IT DIDN'T!

Ok, for the garden world that is a lot I guess.  The mosquitoes have been horrendous, so the kids and I have tried to stay out of the garden this week.  My #3 has terrible reactions to bites.  I was able to thin the carrots and find that a lot of the flowers on my tomato plants are being eaten by the birds, I presume, so we need to make a scarecrow this coming weekend.

Our oldest is a church camp this week...she is my gardening cheerleader, so I'll have to find gusto on my own to get out there this week and do some more weeding.

If you are looking for a low-key great read this summer, check out my post from yesterday here and join me for an online bible study!

I'm linking up this week at The Inadvertent Farmer.