Peaches in Vanilla Syrup

Yesterday during nap time I canned four quarts (and a pint, since I guess I improperly weighed my peaches) of summer peaches in vanilla syrup from the book Canning for a New Generation by Lianna Krissoff. I've made a few things from this book, mostly jams. I love this book. Lianna Krissoff has made the canning steps easy to understand, and her recipes are wonderful. She warned me to make sure that they were freestone peaches. She even suggested that I go out to the car to cut one open to make sure before I bought a ton of them. I did not listen. I have two tiny kids and two weeks worth of groceries in my cart. I am not going to purchase one peach to see if the pit comes out with little coaxing. Luckily, they were mostly freestone and I only had to struggle with pitting a few of them. That was enough, though. Pitting cling stone fruit is a pain. I'm hoping to crack a few of these open to top plain yogurt or add a few to a fruit salad. Let me warn you, though - I started during nap time but Wild Child (The Older) woke up right was I was about to put these in the water bath. It is much more difficult to can with a small child underfoot, and I do not recommend it. I had to kick him out of the kitchen for 15 minutes so I could finish up, since all that hot water and glass jar business can be dangerous for little fingers.

Warm Quinoa Salad

Lunch time around here is usually left overs, but lately I've been making smaller portions at dinner to control how much we eat at night. It's time to lose the last of this baby weight. It's been long enough and I'd like to finally *GASP* wear adorable jeans again. This is a quick and healthy warm salad that I've been making for lunch. It's high in fiber and whole grains and you get a good dose of veggies. Quinoa is a cute little grain similar to brown rice or couscous with a little bit of a nutty flavor. Even the husband likes it, which is surprising. He did add the caveat that he'd need "a lot of ranch," but I'll take what I can get.

This is what you'll need:

1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup spinach
Avocado
Cucumber
Tomato
Red Onion
2 tb olive oil
2 tb lemon juice
feta cheese
salt, to taste

While the quinoa is cooking, (according to the directions on your package, which is usually a 1:2 water ratio like rice) cut up your spinach and veggies. I originally got this recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook but have added cucumber and upped all the amounts of veggies that the recipe originally calls for. Add as much or as little as you like.

Pretty, right? Then, add your quinoa. Make a light dressing with your olive oil and lemon juice, adding a little salt, and mix it into your salad.

Now, finish with a little feta cheese and you've got a greek style salad that perfect for summer.