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! :)

OMGOMGOMG! PUPPYYYYYYYYY!

I swear, I'm bouncing on the walls, with my new family member Delilah. :) I adopted her and I found her on Petfinder.com. She's a real cutie. My friend Fiona helped me pick out a name. Her original name was... Meh... So we (my brother, my mom and I) changed it ^_^ At the shelter she was barking a storm but since she's stepped out she hasn't barked at all, only a few yelps when I tripped on her paws. When you adopt a dog, well, your first dog (I shouldn't speak of others), it feels like you just wanna scream and shout "I HAVE A DOG!!!". I think I'll make some fudge... When I'm happy, I bake :)

Pugs and Kisses,
Sonia

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