At Home My Way

* Because I hate scrolling down for the recipe, my recipes are AT THE TOP - comments are at the BOTTOM below!  :)) "They are mighty little peaches; sweet, juice running down your chin kind of peaches! Delicious and smell divine!"                           Fresh Peach Preserves  Less Sugar Recipe 5 half-pint canning jars with lids/rings 4 1/2 cups peeled/chopped/pitted fresh peaches (place peaches with skins in boiling water and then in ice water and the skins loosen, just like for peeling tomatoes) 2 Tablespoons lemon juice 3 cups white/granulated sugar , measured into a separate bowl 1 box SUREJELL For Less or No Sugar Needed Recipes 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine (optional) Instructions (FOLLOW directions in order exactly or pectin won't work): Sterilize jars, lids and rings per USDA recommendations. Place peaches in boiling water and then place in ice water for...

This fantastic Surprise Zucchini Jam will be a great way to use up those ever-growing zucchinis in your garden.   It turns out fantastic and uses no pectin!  Ding-ding-ding - money saver!  (Jello is lots cheaper than pectin!)   I ate mine on some bread/toast and it was amazing!  I just couldn't imagine what it would taste like??  However, I was pleasantly surprised.  Great for biscuits, toast, even over cream cheese/served with crackers as an appetizer!  It would make a fun homemade Christmas gift, too! I am making lots more varieties of this recipe.  My husband's grandma always used apricot jello. Strawberry jello is supposed to be great! Also, I thought it would be good to use pineapple jello and include some ground jalapenos for pepper jelly.  Lots of possibilities here! Since this recipe uses no Surejel/pectin, I was very skeptical. However, after a sit overnight, it was all set up.  In the fridge, it was the perfect "...

Even big girls need Easter baskets and this year I made my girls a couple of fun Beach Bags to hold their treats.   I'm not going to include a pattern.  Just a link to this great used 2004 pattern book that I bought at Amazon: You can find it on Amazon HERE ! A friend of my older daughter had one of these bags that her mother made for her to use as a diaper bag.  The body of the bag is quilted and it has pockets galore.  I knew it would make a fun project and a perfect beach bag for summer.  I begged and pleaded for my daughter's friend to ask her mom where she got the pattern.  She sent me a picture of the book and I searched Amazon until I found it.  I don't believe it is in print anymore, but the directions are easy and the book was cheap. You start by cutting all of the pieces out and quilting the main body of the bag.  I had never done any quilting, machine or otherwise, but I figured it out with no problems. On the aq...

Do you think I have fallen off of the Earth?  Well, I promise that I haven't.  Just cold days here in Missouri (misery) with little desire to do much other get home from work and stay in my rut.   I haven't been trying many new recipes as winter just makes me want to operate on auto pilot ..... be cozy, comfortable, WARM, and eat things I know I can make. I've done a little cooking - making things like: Hawaiian Chicken (which was DELICIOUS - I should make this more often) Chocolate Pie   (One can never go wrong making this pie!) Homemade Alphabet Soup (for my freezer - for fast lunches - a favorite) I tried a new pattern for crochet slippers.  I absolutely LOVE making these slippers (I've made three pairs so far).  I made some for my mom.  Hers are the orange pair; made some for my sister-in-law, who requested a bright color so her's are aqua, and some for me - which are gray- my favorite color these days - probably bec...

I used to pretty much think you only ate granola sprinkled on things.  I like to eat it sprinkled on yogurt, on Homemade Yogurt Parfaits , and applesauce, or for snacking by the handful - but but then I read on a blog somewhere about eating it with milk, in a bowl, like boxed cereal.  Duh... I'm not sure why that never occurred to me but I am so glad I tried it.  It's super delicious! You know how cereal commercials always go on and on about their products not getting soggy in milk?  Well, homemade granola NEVER gets soggy.  And there's no weird ingredients to keep it from getting soggy.  Just good old fashioned homemade goodness like toasted oats and nuts that don't get soggy anyway.  I actually stopped buying cold cereal years ago  and subbed into our breakfast options things like Chocolate Chip/Blueberry Muffins , Frozen "Toaster" French Toast , homemade smoothies, toast, and things like that.  I actually was a big cold cereal fan....

Pinterest has been hot and heavy lately with freezer food recipes; freezer crockpot meals, cooking once for eating twice, meal plan starters, freezing muffins, cookie dough, etc..  I have been anxious to jump on the band wagon and try my own hand at freezer food. Since my niece and her husband welcomed baby #2 last week, I wanted to take something special to them (as a form of bribery for letting me hold the little jewel LOL)!  I could think of no better gift to take than some homemade, ready-to-cook meals.  Who doesn't like homemade food?  And I figured my niece and her hubby have LOTS more important things to do than cook. I also included a written list of the items I made for their freezer and the cooking instructions for each item.  I didn't want them to forget something yummy and I thought the list could be put on the fridge for easy reference. I did go a little crazy once I got started!  The only mistake I made was that I didn't make anythin...

My daughter was in a wedding last summer with a friend she had grown up with.   Rebecca and I love Pinterest!  A few pins we've seen especially have gotten our attention - making baby blankets out of bridesmaid dresses.  We loved the idea!  What do you do with all of those beautiful bridesmaid dresses anyway, but hang them in the closet or sell/donate them?  Making a baby blanket for a friend using the bridesmaid dress you wore at her wedding seemed extra special and a wonderful keepsake.  Rebecca wanted to give it a shot! Rebecca has worked on a couple of baby blankets for her friends.  A couple of years ago, I showed her how to make baby blankets using two yards of fabric for the front, two yards for the back (solid front/back), and polyfil quilt batting for the middle; cutting 5 inch square pieces from extra fabric that are folded in half, pressed, and folded in half again and pressed to make little triangles, which are then pinned and sewn in...