No Cook Strawberry Freezer Jam

I've always wanted to be one of those families who canned, froze and grew their own food. I'm happy to say...WE ARE ON OUR WAY!  Well...kind of:-)
As a family, we have decided to live a more frugal and self sustaining lifestyle and while we are only in the beginning stages, we are making awesome strides everyday.  We decided to share our first freezing/canning endeavor with you guys.  So here's the first of what we hope will be many frugally sustainable blog posts:-)

No Cook Strawberry Freezer Jam

Ingredients:  (we made a 1 gallon batch)

1 gallon washed, hulled & mashed strawberries

3 cups sugar

10 Tbsp Real Fruit Instant pectin

 -you can make a smaller batch using 1/2 gallon (about 2 c. mashed berries) * 1 1/2 c. sugar * 5 Tbsp instant pectin 

Directions:

Wash, hull, chop and mash berries in a good sized bowl 

 

In a separate bowl, mix sugar and pectin and then add to berry mixture and mix well

Now fill your jars.  We used the Ball 1/2 pint glass canning jars.  Make sure to leave about 1/2 inch space at the top once filled, to allow for expansion during freezing.  Once filled and sealed, let the jars "set-up" for about 30 mins. before placing in the freezer.  Jam will keep about 3 weeks in the fridge and for about 1 year in the freezer.

Finished product!  This batch filled about 8 1/2  of the 1/2 pint jars. 

*** Here's a gluten free version compliments of Michelle over at http://glutenfreefix.com/

• 1 12 oz bag of frozen strawberries
• 1 cup of water
• 1/4- 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey
• http://glutenfreefix.com/homemade-strawberry-sauce/638/

Hope you guys found this post helpful.  Let me know if you give this recipe a try!


Be Blessed,
Kelly

 

Gluten Free Granola Bars

In our efforts (slowly but surely) to transition to gluten free eating,  I have come across many new and great tasting recipes. My plan is to start sharing many of those new recipes with you guys:-)
This is a recipe that I plan to try this weekend...Breakfast is always rushed in our  house, especially on the weekdays, so I'm hoping to make a big batch, so we can just "grab & go."

http://glutenfreefix.com/homemade-granola-bars/3235/

Michelle's blog has TONS of awesome recipes and like me, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and found herself having to rely on her own instincts and research to heal herself.  It's not an easy transition for us, by any means, but anything that is worth it takes effort.

Please feel free to share any of your own GF recipes, I am ALWAYS looking for new ones to try:-) 


Be Blessed,
Kelly