Washingtonians

[Slinglings]

Water

or lemon water. My kids like to make their own 'lemonade'. A glass of ice water, a squirt of lemon juice, and a squirt of sugar syrup. Easy and no red food coloring They drink plain water so much that this seems like a real treat. My daughter is psycho when she has anything red!

(Sugar syrup is sugar and water, 2:1, boiled or microwaved, stirring frequently, until clear.) I use 4 cups sugar, a little more than 2 cups water, and it almost fills a one liter bottle.

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

My BF and I are off to Lake Snoqualmie until Saturday or Sunday! When we return, it'll be time to start on the new coop! I hope everyone has a great clucking time until then!

 

[Farmin Momma]

Quote:

Of corse water. My kids do drink a lot of water they just get tired of it some times.

I think it depends on how you want the jam to turn out. Some recipes don't use it, others do, and some recipes use gelatin.

Pectin makes it gel, fruit juice + pectin makes jelly, like clear grape jelly, without pieces of fruit. If you want it more like preserves, lumps of fruit in sugary syrup, you don't necessarily need pectin.

Well I would like it to be more like preserves, so would I just use your sugar syrup stuff and the berries?

Quote: That is great I will try this. Thank you!

Any other ideas would be great too.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote: Safeway puts out a drink called Clear. It's a fizzy clear drink that's fruit flavored, and sugar free.... I hate sugar free drinks (can't stand the aftertaste) and I like them....

 

[chickenjane82]

artificial sugars are also one to steer clear from.

You could always pick up a suntea jar or 2 and fill them with your kids favorite fruit then fill with water pop it in the fridge and they can have flavored water.
You COULD add a little honey or sugar to sweeten it if they wanted. It would still be better than sweetened fruit drinks.

I like to add chlorophyll (the only brand I like is the one sold only at Your Health) Its a little minty and a splash is all you need.


For treat drinks on the run, just stick with 100% juice. They make cheaper ones with no dye, still not the best healthy choice, but with 5 kids Im sure you like a grab n go every now and then, I know I do with 2! I bought some organic ones, not too spendy that werent too sweet, and clear. Not sure what it was.
My kids like odwalla superfood (I cant stand it

)

I like GT Synergy Kombucha too, but its spendy at 3 bucks a pop.

 

[Slinglings]

" Well I would like it to be more like preserves, so would I just use your sugar syrup stuff and the berries?"

No, the sugar syrup is for drinks usually (margaritas and iced coffee are my main uses ). You just need to find a recipe for the jam, Google 'blackberry jam no pectin' and you'll find recipes. It will probably be berries, sugar, water, maybe lemon juice.

 

[RonB]

That's what I thought. At least I got 5 hours tonight. But I hate it when I can't sleep! Hope you get some.

Probably can't sleep because your feeling GUILTY that you haven't been down to see the old man that lives just down the street in months

 

[RainyDayChicken]

I have a question. Back oh so many posts ago ya'll were talking about your diets and things you can or can't, do or don't eat. I would really like to get my family to the point of not having prossesed foods which will be a huge struggle for me with 5 kids. But right now I am wondering what in the world do ya'll drink? I have a son that has ADHD and other behaviral things we are helping him battle and I have found that all those dies in the drinks and food really affect him (as well as the other 4 kids). I have tried taking out all drinks that contain those dies but I can't find much to substitue. So I am really looking for ideas if ya'll have any.

Today I plan on trying to make my first batch of black berry jam. My cousin made some the other day and told me I need (besides the berries) sugar and stuff called Pectin. Those of you that make jams, do you use this Pectin stuff or no?
So I guess that was two questions lol.

I have made about four batches this year of blackberry,peaches and Tom. The easy way is to use a product called sure-jel. It has pectin in it. The pink box uses less sugar than the yellow. You will need berries,sugar,water and sure-jel. The box have a chart of the exact amount to use.

 

[Nikki99]

Hi all IM 900 post behind but wanted to say hello and I'm lurking. I took a fall about 30 feet down out of our Barn loft. So have been laying low. I was in bed for few days straight and since I hurt my neck and shoulder Im suppose to be resting. But gonna try and do some canning this weekend We wii see how it goes Anyways just wanted to say hello

Oh my goodness!!! That's scary! I'm very sorry this happened to you and I hope your ok!!

You guys live down south? I'm going to Vancouver next month for the Girlfriend's Half Marathon. It looks like Kelso is right off of I-5. If the schedule works out I think it would be fun to meet!

ETA.... and I might even be able to gift some scrap metal to ya!

If you don't mind I would love to get in on this little sized meet up! I love meeting new people that I have a common interest with!

I have a question. Back oh so many posts ago ya'll were talking about your diets and things you can or can't, do or don't eat. I would really like to get my family to the point of not having prossesed foods which will be a huge struggle for me with 5 kids. But right now I am wondering what in the world do ya'll drink? I have a son that has ADHD and other behaviral things we are helping him battle and I have found that all those dies in the drinks and food really affect him (as well as the other 4 kids). I have tried taking out all drinks that contain those dies but I can't find much to substitue. So I am really looking for ideas if ya'll have any.

Today I plan on trying to make my first batch of black berry jam. My cousin made some the other day and told me I need (besides the berries) sugar and stuff called Pectin. Those of you that make jams, do you use this Pectin stuff or no?
So I guess that was two questions lol.

I know you've already heard this but water is the best route you can go. It's so hard with kids b/c most drinks have so much crap in them! Our kids drink mostly water and milk.
I swear by doTERRA essential oils!! They are the only oil out there that is certified pure therapeutic grade and 100% safe and natural! I will add a drop or two of it to our water and it's so good and the health benefits are outta this world!!
Best of luck to you!

 

[mikeyb]

Why does every vegan cookbook have to contain a long-winded diatribe of their extreme viewpoints?

I just want to find a book with egg-free and nut-free recipes because of my allergies. If anyone knows of such a thing, please post it.

Try going to allrecipes.com
after you reach that website then in their search box type in vegan recipes. You will then see all their recipes and this recipe site is the best I've ever found and that includes the major brand sites. From Mikey; try it, you'll like it.

http://allrecipes.com/