carlytoo - My DH would LOVE sugar-base Coke jam, but I am NOT going to make it for him! He gets enough calories from his liquid Coke so he doesn't need more on his toast. LOL Annie1992 - thanks for the recipe! I did use 2 pouches of liquid pectin the second batch because I found that there was enough natural pectin in the organic Apples & Eve Pomegranate Plum juice for a good set - it made thicker juice not jelly. Very pretty and delicious but A&E have stopped making that combo (bummer). If any of you find it still on your store's shelves - grab it! I also made jelly from the store brand Pomegranate Plum juice and it was not so pretty and not at all good tasting - that batch got dumped. I've since made organic black cherry (thanks for the tip dgkritch) - it is totally delectable; and from prune juice - perfect for the base in my date, raisin, and walnut filled cookies but yucky on toast. I bought some apricot juice/nectar that looks promising. Hey, I'm on a roll - jelly without the mess of dripping fresh fruit juice all over my kitchen! afeisty1 - Apple Cranberry has to be my next one! That for sure should set with one pouch of pectin! Thanks for inspiring me, y'all! This winter will not be boring. Nancy

Hmmm - now I'm really straining my brain - because I am not sure what ratio of home-made citrus pectin is used per cup of mashed fruit - but perhaps I have it somewhere in my "saves" - which right now is at the bottom of some other "saves" because we have our grandson occuping the space I was using - well you get the idea. Anyway, when I made the pectin (you remember the postings recently - so I won't repeat it here), I froze the "gooey" stuff in cup-size portions - for a whole season, mainly because it was at a time when fruits were in season, and I couldn't get to it right away. Hopefully, I can find the ratio of pectin to use. But a good way to save pectin is freezing it. I think lemon pectin would be great, because I add either lemon or lime juice to ALL of my fruit jams and jellies anyway - brings out the flavor. Just my 2 c's. Sorry to be so confusing - Bejay

well, that was certainly quick. Yesterday I used the link Carolyn provided and asked why lemon juice in apple sauce and not in the apple slice and juice recipes ... here's their answer "Dear Kay: Thank you for your message. What we have found through experience is that people make applesauce from the lesser quality apples  although we do not promote this, it is just a given fact. Thus, there is higher potential for mold growth due to the poorer quality apples. Adding the lemon juice to the applesauce is a way we found to help prevent that growth. With this being said, you can leave the lemon juice out IF you are using high quality apples and following our recommended procedures for making applesauce. In addition, we have found that adding the lemon juice enhances the overall quality of the applesauce. People who make apple slices and apple juice donÂt traditionally use poorer quality apples, thus not a need for the addition of lemon juice. "We recommend using natural lemon juice versus specifying bottled lemon juice because of the information provided earlier. In addition, we would like to note that majority of the people who make their own applesauce are doing so because they want an "all natural" finished product. Thus, they prefer to use products that are all natural. People donÂt perceive bottled lemon juice and citric acid as all natural. Thus, we used the "majority rule" for this recipe. "We hope this is helpful and appreciate you contacting us." Carol, looks like your ideas about the windfalls was right on the money.

Moderation is the key. OJ is a great, healthy drink, but not if you drink it all day long. I think fruit sugar (fructose) is healthier than white sugar, but it still has calories and it still can trigger your hunger for sweets. I think fresh squeezed OJ is better, but store-bought is still pretty good. Be sure to get some pulp in the store-bought one too, so you get the fiber. I'm sure pasteurization decreases the Vitamin C content, but its still pretty high after that (according to the stats on the OJ labels). Coke is awful for you........too much corn syrup/sugar/phosphorus, etc. Also, it has caffeine, which will stimulate your appetite. I drink about a half a coke a day, and know that its hard to quit that stuff! Sounds like you're trying really hard to lose weight. I think getting away from sugar really helps to decrease your appetite. Good luck to you!