Homemade Orange Juice

Two cute little girls this morning…

And today is the first day of Addison trying school foods with her friends! We just select all the things from the monthly menu we want them to try (basically just all the super soft, mushy stuff), and they let her try it out. Not sure that she really ate too much of it, but it’s fun for her to start trying!

For lunch today, my work friends and I went out to Kool Beanz to celebrate dual birthdays for myself and Tammy, and wow it was so stinking good. It was the first time there for Heather and Tammy, and we all loved it.

Sorry to Heather for not realizing your eyes were closed, until we were already in the truck and heading back to work 😉

Addison didn’t nap well, but other than that, both girls had a good day at school.

 

When we got home, Emmie and Jeff gathered up some oranges from the carport (we still have sooo many, if anyone is still interested), while I just put together some leftovers from last night for our dinner.

I had a ham sammich & mac-n-cheese for dinner, Emmie had three ham sliders, and Jeff just had everything “regular.”

Then we got ready to do some serious orange-juicing!

We borrowed this giant counter-top Kitchen-aid mixer from my sweet mother-in-law, and we went to town! We plan to keep the jars in the fridge for the week, and freeze some in the glass container for the future. I read that it can last up to 12 months in the freezer. It said the least amount of pulp possible helps it freeze and thaw better, so we’re making sure to double and triple strain it so it will still be really yummy. Because y’all, this fresh homemade orange juice is some of the most delicious stuff I’ve ever, ever had!

Quick break from juicing to get some laundry going, and get the girls in bed…

Emmie loves this card from her sweet little church-friend, Elly…

And then once the girls were both asleep, Jeff and I are back to juicing. We want to get as much done tonight as possible, instead of splitting it into two days, and have lots of juice put away for the future. It’s not a hard job, but you have to apply pressure to the orange to squeeze all the juice out, so my right arm and hand are both sore already. But as you can imagine, our house smells incredible tonight!

Just wanted to share the sweet gifts my friend Britteny got for me birthday the other day – local, organic honey for my hot tea, cupcake-in-a-jar, and an adorable Harry Potter mug (that also has Hermione & Ron all around the other sides) for drinking hot tea!

Jeff is still in the kitchen juicing while I’m blogging, but he should be getting close to done for the night. I have some dishes to wash from over the weekend before I can sit down to rest, but I’m looking forward to just passing out tonight! The girls were awake a total of five times between the two of them, from about midnight to 5am last night, so it was a rough night with not much sleep. Hoping and praying tonight goes better, and we can all get good rest!