I'm back... With Jam

Alright, so I'm sorry about not posting in what seemed like forever, but in return, I have something sweet.
Yeah, I know you're laughing...
You think it's just a bunch of strawberries, right?
But prepare to be wrong (I love you guys, but no. Sorry)

Now?Yes? No?

...

Whatever. It's amazing. It's more like strawberry goop (there's no pectin. What is pectin for that matter?), but it's so good that I can't stand it! Just smother it on some toast...

You know you want to...

Adopted from the manga The Kitchen Princess

Ingredients

1 Package of strawberries
1/2 cup plus 1 T. sugar
1 Lemon
1 T Honey (optional)

1) Wash the strawberries and cut them into chunks.
2) Put the strawberries in a bowl (or in the pot if you don't want to clean as much up), and put in all the sugar
3) Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl/pot, and scoop out the insides if you can. Stir so everything's mixed.
4) I know this is hard, but you need to wait...

Yeah, it sucks, but wait.
For an HOUR

5) Turn on the stove to a medium-high level, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 4-5 to avoid burning. Add in the 1 T of honey about halfway through.
6) Once the mix looks jam like, you can turn the burner off, mash up the strawberries (or not if you like it chunky), and pour it all into a jar.
7) Let the jam air out a bit, maybe 10 minutes.
8) Cover and leave it overnight in the fridge.

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THEN WAKE UP AND EAT IT! :)

Update on the 30 (29 for me...) Healthiest Foods

Hey, so I'm just gonna put up my progress. I think I'm doing pretty dang good! I was spell-bound with spinach, sassy with sweet potatoes, and mushy with my mushrooms >.< (Yes, the cheesiness is all good. C'mon! It's S.A.D. *Singles Awareness Day* and Valentines Day!). Here's what I've tried so far, with a few side-notes for you inconvenience ~hahaha~:

-Mushrooms
*Tried it on my friends' mothers homemade pizza. Delish times 10!!

-Whole-grain pasta
*Tastes great with cooked veggies. I had some whole grain macaroni with spinach and red peppers :-)

-Peanut and nut butters
*Almond butter + apple cinnamon rice cakes. 'Nuf said.

-Oatmeal
*Thanks to The Oatmeal Diaries and this list, I am in LOVE with this stuff. When I was younger my brother would always have his with applesauce and raisins. I think this is one of the first things we can agree on; this stuff is daaaaaaaaaang good!

-Quinoa
*I just tried this for dinner today. It had a good texture; it was softer than rice, but not super-mushy.

-Almonds
*When I tried this, it was in one of those microwave-things with green beans. I guess it counts... It was quite a good combination!

-Non-fat Greek yogurt
*Ew, sorry Greek yogurt lovers, but I hated this stuff. Too dry for me. Sorry :P

-Chicken Breasts
*I also had this for dinner tonight ^.^, marinated with teriyaki to have it nice and tender.

-Broccoli
*For the past few days, I've had broccoli very frequently. You can do so much with it!!

-Sweet Potatoes
*I had 1/2 of one, does that count? It was just there in the fridge, all alone... So I put it out of it's misery by microwaving and and demolishing (Oops, I meant to say painlessly eating, I mean putting it out of it's misery) it with cinnamon. }:)

-Edamame
*Boiled plain, ooh oooooh good! And with some sushi to make the meal, SPECTACULAR!

-Oranges
*My new Vitamin C fix ^_^ I've had one at least every other day so far!

-Spinach
*Those steam-in-a-bags; You gotta love 'em!


So so far, I've had 13/29 (Can't have skim milk...) Top Healthiest Foods for you. I might lower it to 28 though because sardines come in those cans and still have their little eyes and... I just can't bring myself to do it :(.

Oh yeah, have a good Valentines Day! I'm off to make a Banana Boat ( Open the inner flap of banana, scoop out 1/2 the insides and eat that, fill with marshmallows and chocolate chips, and microwave for 30 seconds. Don't worry about the rest of the banana peel turning black-ish. It just happens :\)!!

XOXO,
Sonia

30 Healthiest Foods

So, here's the dealio:
1) I'M SOOOOOOO SORRY I haven't posted in what seems like forever! My laptop was really screwed up for the past week but just a day or two ago my dad came over and helped set the internet back in order ^_^
2) When I was on the computer (the family desktop... No comment), I was playing Ravenwood Fair on Facebook. If you haven't tried it; TRY IT.
3) I've been following this blog called "Carrots and Cake", and I love it. One of the posts, which was published awhile ago, was titled "The 30 Healthiest Foods Challenge", and no-foshizzle, I clicked on it. The blogger, Tina , said she was going to try to try all 30 foods in the next month, and I was thinking I should try it. The only things I have against it is the fact I'll never be able to find all those things in 1 month and have it all (And also the fact that my mother won't allow me to have skim milk... -______-). I started it this February, and I plan on finishing it by June, because even different foods, I somehow put it off. Don't judge!! If you're too lazy to click the link, here's the list of top 30 Healthiest Foods:

• Mushrooms
• Walnuts
• Whole-Grain Pasta
• Peanut and Nut Butters
• Oatmeal
• Barley
• Quinoa
• Lentils
• Bulgur
• Almonds
• Eggs
• Nonfat Greek Yogurt
• Chicken Breasts
• Wild Salmon
• Sardines
• Kale
• Kiwi
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Avocados
• Black Beans
• Sweet Potatoes
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Edamame
• Chard
• Kidney Beans
• Oranges
• Spinach
• Pumpkin
• Skim Milk

The foods with the links and such are from Carrots and Cake's posts where she tried it, so I can't get 'em off, but hey, it's fun to surf the internet!

-Sonia ;)

BUNANA!!!

Okay, the title's weird. I KNOW THAT! The reason: I made banana bread. Yes, that ooy, gooy, om-monlicious bread that makes your heart stop. I got the recipe from Food.com and this is the recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/honey-banana-bread-57602 I picked it because it has honey (the meaning of life besides Mint-Chocolate Silk; which is GONE because it's a seasonal item *cry*) and brown sugar, which is way sweeter then regular sugar. Sadly I still have 3 bananas, but they'll be baked before you know it! I can't wait to try this bread... It looks so YUMMEH!
Okay, I need to stop looking at this nom-tastic looking (and smelling) bread.
BAKE THIS BREAD!!

-Sonia

Banana Bread