What a glorious day I have had today! It’s been so much fun trying something new (and having success!) There is something so joyful and satisfying about creating. I think we often get so caught up in the busy day to day that we forget our greatest purpose… to create! We let the idea of all these amazing projects overwhelm us. Today I finally did something I have wanted to try for a number of years. I had posted about it on Facebook so I felt a little more committed. 🙂
Once I got started, I wondered why I had waited so long it was so fun and simple! My girls absolutely loved helping as well!
I took these: Strawberries and White Peaches and turned them into…
THIS… FREEZER JAM. I know for some of you that may seem a simple feat, but for a 1st timer like me, it was pure joy! I may have had a little too much fun, I ended up with 20 jars and wanted to run to the store to grab more because I had a few peaches leftover!
The recipe is simple and as far as I can taste universal for whichever fruit you LOVE.
At our house we absolutely LOVE white peaches, they come around once a year for us and only last a few months. When they are perfectly ripe they taste like candy!
I bought one box from Costco and one large 4lb carton of strawberries. I was determined to make my jam with a lot less sugar and not use white sugar at all. I opted for Sucanat Sugar, it can be found at most higher end grocery stores or health food stores. It is unrefined natural sugar made from evaporated cane juice. I have used it before and it desolves well so I figured I would give it a shot!
Low Sugar Strawberry Freezer Jam
(recipe adapted from about 12 recipes I found online)
Makes five 8 oz jars
3 cups crushed strawberries (about 1 1/2 lbs ripe strawberries)
1 cup sucanat sugar
3/4 cup water
1 box SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin (premium for less or no sugar recipes)
Core, chop, and crush strawberries. Place 3 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sucanat sugar. Let stand 10 min.
Mix water and pectin in small saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring 1 min. Add to fruit mixture; stir until sugar is almost dissolved.
Fill all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Leave at room temp for 24 hours. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using.
I made strawberry peach jam, white each, and of course strawberry jam! They all turned out mighty tasty and will come in handy this next school year for those days when a PB&J is the only option! Twenty jars in 2 hours… so simple!
*If you are going to make peach jam, here are a few quick tips: Six large peaches = 3 cups chopped. Chop them very small, mushing them makes them stringy. The fastest way to remove the peel, place peaches in boiling hot water for 2 minutes then dip them into a bowl of ice water, the peel should slide right off! Good Luck!
Source: WFM 1-10