Snafu on Blogger or Maybe It Was Me.....

        If you notice anything strange, so do I.  The post I put out Monday disappeared today.  So, if you get the post twice I'm sorry.  It might have gone out twice, but so far as of this very moment in time appears only once on the actual web blog.

   I have a small idea of why, but don't really understand why.  It had something to do with saving changes, editing and all that fun stuff that goes into these posts. 

   I'm sure if there is a blogger for dummies it would be way over my head.  Maybe blogger for beginners, or blogger for kindergartners would be a bit more manageable. 

      You know how kids have a way of making us look kind of  dumb?  Yeah, well this morning while "fighting" with my printer to acknowledge the right cartridge, I walked out in frustration to take a one minute anger management moment, when all of a sudden I hear my printer printing.  I couldn't even assimilate that, quickly ran back and there was my 2 1/2 year old grandson sitting in front of the printer totally jubilant that he somehow got it to work.  So, my next thought is, how did he do that?  But that was a dead end, he can usually only tell me things that deal with his world, like, potty, bue (blue) cup, twain (train) and that sort of thing. 

I still have no idea what he did, and I'll probably never know.  Which has nothing much to do with this post, except I'm sure when he's another year or two older he can tell me what he did, or at least help me out with this stuff.  But then, this kind of stuff will probably be outdated and the kids will be laughing at how "old fashioned" it all is.  Yep, we all did it, asking our mom's what it was like in the "olden days". 

   So, back to what I was saying, pardon the possibility that you did get two of the same post. 

Do I Save Money Doing It Myself? Is It Worth It?

 Is it worth all the work we do to save money?  For me I would say most of the time.  Although I have to say, when these deals pop up, I have to jump on them, and ask why now? 

   Why now?  I'm in the middle of this water leak repair, and so far have had someone at my house every single day.  I'm not usually comfortable with people coming, walking around my house while I'm doing something else.  After a couple days though it seemed like it didn't matter.  I really don't know why.  I was kind of glad that today the same guy showed up, since he knew that I was capable of being dressed.  Yep, he showed up and I had jeans and my pj top on.  If he noticed, he sure didn't show it, since he spent most of his time doing his job and playing with the little guy here. 
  

     So, what kind of deal cropped up?  Apples, a lot of apples.  All I know is that I couldn't pick up the box.  Who could pass up such a deal on organic apples?  My daughter had bought herself a case also, and when I visited her she was canning them in jars, cold pack and the boiling water bath method.  With mine, I'm not sure if I have enough actually for everything I'd like to do with them, but I'll let you know what I end up doing.  I'm not the most experienced person with preserving and I have to look up a lot of different methods and compare them to understand the science of my projects.  I do like very clear concise recipes and methods, and I love the pictures.  By following these recipes I gain a better understanding of the steps that have to be done, or whether they don't matter one way or the other.

   I'll be posting what I've done with all these apples along with some pictures.  And what of my title of is this worth it?  I think so when all is said and done.  It gets the family involved, hopefully and we are all working toward a common goal of putting food on the pantry. 
   Knowing where my food came from and how it was cooked and processed also is great.  It puts me in control of what we are eating.  At least some of it anyway.  I'm just hoping the next good deal on food or produce doesn't come up too soon.  Just can't pass up a chance to save money on organic produce and fill my shelves with food I prepared myself.

Vegetables for Juicing

   

      Okay, okay.  I've totally wanted to skip this part.  Which vegetables are the best for juicing.  The thing is I don't think there is a best that can be pointed out.  Every single person is different in their nutritional needs and of course, what they like.  Now, I'm not going to expect every veggie concoction to be wonderful.  In fact, I'm assuming that some of it may be an acquired taste, which is why starting out slowly could be a good thing. 

   One of the first things I noticed is that apple juice is almost always suggested to make things taste just a bit better, or less bitter.  I did find a very extensive list, and it would take a lot of time to investigate each and every vegetable.  Some of these vegetables, maybe since I'm not a die hard juicer yet, seem a bit odd.  For example, artichokes.  They seem to be a bit pricey, so I really would rather eat it than waste the taste on juicing it.  Or alfalfa sprouts.  If I do find time to sprout them, I'd rather throw them in a salad or a sandwich.  So, check out this list and see what you think.  List of juicing vegetables

     Another thing is the beets.  A few websites state to never drink beet juice by itself or it can paralyze your vocal chords.  Yet I see that very thing in Henry's Market and other places.  I didn't see any warnings on the package.  I've seen pro and con on that.  But really, I would wonder just how many beets would you really want in a glass of juice anyway. 

The list is a good starting point, with a lot of information on the nutrients and what each vegetable could help you with.  If there is one in particular that catches your eye I encourage you to do further research on that individual vegetable. 

   As for myself I'm going to just start with what I like.  Okay, so I'd rather have fruit in my juice.  One of my favorite smoothies is Strawberry Banana.  It uses one whole banana, about five strawberries, crushed pineapple with a tad of the juice, (if you do it the unhealthy way like me and get it from a can) and if I have protein powder I'll use a scoop of that.  Oh yeah, don't forget an ounce or two of apple juice.  This I throw in the blender and it makes a nice sweet treat.  Now from there, I can add things that I will never notice.  I like to add a spoonful of flax meal, and a few leaves of some fresh spinach.  Since I know I like this concoction, always have since I was a kid (a very long time ago) so I will just start with those and add in from there.  A tweak here and a tweak there.  For starters, I'm going to add in a carrot.  So now I've got my fruits with two veggies.  It's a start anyway and will have to do until I find a juicer to do all the work.