Saturday, May 5, 2012

Saturday- freezer/pantry stocking!

Doing a little cooking on the weekend can really help your weekdays go much better!

I made several dozen Oatmeal Pancakes for the freezer.
I also made several dozen Banana-Nut Pancakes....and burned a couple while taking this picture...which I ate for lunch ;-)
Then I did something really crazy and made 3 different kinds of jelly from cheap, un-sweetened juice. (Winter has left my Mason jars empty and there's not much fruit around yet, so this was a cheap option :) For the cost of about 4 jars of store-bought jelly, I was able to make about 12 and really neat flavors. One is "Fruit Punch"!



This post is linked to: MoneySavingMom
 

6 comments:

Joy said...

That's amazing!! What favors did you make they look so pretty! I'm making strawberry Monday and I'm using raw honey bought from last year. I'm hoping it turns out really good.
Joy

Donna said...

Grape, Fruit Punch, and Mixed Berry.

Ah neat- it's been since Krestan was a baby that I've made jelly with honey- yummy! Strawberry and honey in one jar would have to be fantastic! Bet it'll be great!

Anonymous said...

Hi! I have never made jam and yours sound good, could you post the recipes please? Thanks Isabelle ikepela01@hotmail.ca

Donna said...

Isabelle,
Jelly is really VERY easy. Once you have your jars clean and ready, it only takes minutes of hands on time.

I don't have set recipes for these pictured, I used the insert for a guide.

A few helpful tips:
1st- pick a juice that has NO added sweeteners (sugar, HFCS, artificial, etc)
2nd- pick a recipe/ratio that is closest to the juice you are using

Examples: apple, use the apple juice...if using a mixed juice that is made of primarily apples but has berries, use something in the middle of both.

Basic jellies are made easily and something like this:
-basic pectin
-juice
-sugar
-1 T butter
-lemon juice (for some)

Put juice in LARGE pot, whisk 1/4 cup sugar with pectin and whisk into the juice along with 1 T butter and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, whisk in sugar. Bring to a hard boil, boil one minute. Ladle into very clean jars. Process in water bath.

Favorite site:
http://www.pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm#Jams

http://pickyourown.org/jellyrecipes.htm

Hope that helps!
It really is easy! :-)

Marishannon said...

I've made jelly from unsweetened juice before but never thought to mix flavors to create fun, new ones! I will have to try that next time I need to make some more!

Donna said...

Marishannon,
I love making jelly- and the more wacky the better to me ;-)

My kids have loved the unsweetened Fruit Punch juice flavor, best of all!
Blessings- and happy jelly-making!