Jam

Ok, Dawn's turn to do a post. I'm so intimidated by the computer I've been resistant to try for some time now. Matt assures me I can do it. So here goes!
I've been formulating a plan in my mind about a series of posts I will do, all in the theme of "Going Green to $ave some Green" All my attempts to save some money, so I can continue staying home with the kiddos.

So this first one will highlight a new hobby of mine. Canning and dehydrating! This really began with us joining the local Gleaner's Network. This is an organization that gets food donations from places like : Albertson's, Safeway, and our favorite Harry and David, amongst many others I'm sure. So donations include fruits and veggies near/slightly past their peak, frozen meat, day old bread/cake/muffins, Amy's kitchen frozen/canned food, in one of our last batches we even got some tomato plants for the garden. Mostly the fruits and veggies need some sorting, but the time is worth it to me, as we've gotten lots of free food!!

So this post is about the whole flat of blueberries we got a couple months back. Really, can you just see the dollars sitting here!

This is my bowl of berries after sorting. We saved a little more than half I would say, and I recruited my mom to help me sort :-)

So my thought was, what am I going to do with this many blueberries? Noah is really the only one who likes them fresh, and I tend to forget things that go into the freezer. I'm bad about that. What everyone likes though is homemade jam/jelly. Actually we are turning a little snob-ish about this. I've been making strawberry freezer jam for a few years now and the kids kind of turn their nose up at "the other kind" Really, who can blame them. After all this jelly making, I have never attempted to can it though. Another thing I am intimated by. I tackled pears and peaches last summer with lots of help. So I was feeling up to the challenge. Plus, my mom was still here, it just feels better knowing I have experienced hands around.

So this is the girls playing with the canner and jars I was preparing.

The final product. Isn't it just beautiful?! I'm actually not a blueberry fan myself, but this really looks good enough to eat. I think I made 8 jelly jars full. Not too bad for free, plus I really like the fact that I MADE IT!!

We have actually gone through 2 jars of this already. Noah could eat PB&J nearly every day.
So, the end result was a total success, and I fell much more confident to try again. Maybe this time I'll venture out on my own!