Strawberries!

We were planning on a trip to the strawberry patch this morning, but woke up to wet, rainy weather. Instead we stopped at the already picked berry stand. The children loved the berries. I believe it is the first time they've ever eaten strawberries. I gave the girls a tiny amount of confectioner's sugar to dip their berries in. Even Rebekah ate one! Wow, a fruit that she will eat! The only other fruit I can get her to eat is banana, and that is only if it is mixed with chocolate chips in a muffin!

After putting the kids down for a nap I canned a dozen 1/2 pints and 3 pints of strawberry jam. No more high fructose corn syrup in our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! A small jar of "natural" jelly costs almost $3 at the grocery store!!!! I hope to do it again before strawberry season is over. We can easily eat through a pint a month.

This evening after dinner the girls made popsicles with the leftover berries. We did half berries, half natural vanilla yogurt, and a sprinkle of sugar in the blender. They can't wait to try out the pops after nap tomorrow. I called the extra mixture a "smoothie" and gave it to the kids to drink. They sucked them down just as fast as they drink their milkshakes!!!

For breakfast tomorrow I'm going to try 1/2 a banana, the last handful of berries and yogurt as a breakfast smoothie for them. If this is all I have to do to get Rebekah to have some fruit and yogurt I'll be so excited! I've been hiding fruit and fiber in her muffins. Wow, between the smoothies and muffins she'll have a meal that she actually gets some good nutrition from! Now if I can just hide some veggies somewhere I'd be good!