Sunday, October 24, 2010

Blackberry Jam

Blackberry cooked jam

Ingredients

4 cups crushed berries
7 cups sugar
1 pouch CERTO pectin
1/2 tsp butter


Directions

1. Bring boiling-water pot, half-full with water, place jars mini 8 or large 4 in boiling water with lids.
2. Crush berries.
3. Sieve 1/2 of the berries to remove some seeds place together with unsieved berries in a pot.
4. Add 7 cups of sugar and stir
5. Add 1/2 tsp butter stir
6. Place pot on stove bring to a rolling boil on high heat. (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred)
7. Stir in pectin quickly. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min. stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Remove any foam from top.
8. Remove hot boiling jars and lids with a metal tongs.
9. Funnel quickly into hot jars place lids on top.
10. Flip upside down for 10 min. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.) Unopened jam can be stored in a cool, dry, dark place up to 1 year. Refrigerate opened jams and jellies up to 3 weeks.


potato masher works great to crush berries

The sugar is what makes the jam taste so good!


Don't forget to flip the jars upside down.

The final product. Now we can enjoy pb and j's, rolls, toast, and maybe saltine crackers with this jam. I would have to say that I'm so happy to be done with the no sugar diet. It was too hard to resist sweets at this holiday. Sugar cookies will be next. :)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Razz





Razzmataz smoothie

2-3 cups frozen raspberries
1 vanilla light yoplait
around 3 cups 1% milk
1 tbsp honey

Mix all ingredients in blender. Pour in cup and spoon away or sip away whatever you prefer. This smoothie has a lot of raspberries which gives it a great flavor without sugar. I am on a no sugar spell for a month, half way there. This smoothie fills any sugar craving.










I got half way done and realized granola would be good in it. I would rather have the smoothie without. It is always fun to experiment. This granola is vanilla almond granola from whole foods. Its on sale for 2.99 lb.

*note: adjust raspberries and milk to consistency you like.