Organic Blueberry Pomegranate Jelly with Maple Syrup

I had a few more bottles of the Santa Cruz Organic juices so I made some more jelly with them. This batch was made using 100% Blueberry Pomegranate Juice.

Ingredients
2, 32 ounce bottles of Organic 100% Blueberry Pomegranate Juice (64 ounces total)
1 1/3 cup water
3/4 cup organic lemon juice
1/2 cup organic maple syrup
6 Tablespoons Low or No-Sugar-Needed Pectin

Stir together juices and water in a large cooking pot over medium-high heat. Slowly sprinkle in pectin and stir so it does not clump. Bring to a boil. Add in maple syrup. Bring to a boil again and hold at a rolling boil for 1 minute. Then remove from heat.

Carefully pour into pre-sanitized and prepared canning jars and top with prepared lids and rings. Place jars into Canner and cover completely with water, to 2 inches over the highest lid. Process at a full boil for 10 minutes with lid on but not pressurized.  Let sit for 5 minutes after processing is done before removing jars. 

Allow jars to sit in a cool place for 24 hours before removing rings and storing.

Note: This jelly will not set up at room temperature and is more like a syrup. When placed in the refrigerator it will set up firmer to be more of a jelly consistency. 

Want more amazing gluten-free recipes and diy projects? Check out the Gluten-Free and DIY Tuesdays page on Allergy Free Alaska's blog.

Blueberry-Pomegranate jelly is on the left and my Organic Apricot-Peach jelly is on the right. 

Organic Apricot Jelly ~ No sugars added

My kitchen was gathering a giant stack of empty mason jars so it was time to take action. I grabbed a few bottles of organic juice and decided to make some jelly with them.

You can make jelly (aka jam made from juice and not fruit) from any juice. I couponed some Santa Cruz Organic juices last year for $1.50 per bottle. Score!

Gabriella and I decided to make apricot jelly first. I had a few peaches so we chopped them up and added them to the apricot jelly, just for a little texture.

Gabriella is 4 and is actually at the point where she is more helpful than distracting, but just barely! I'm a big advocate of including your kids in everything you do, even if it makes it take longer to do. If you don't want them around, why have them in the first place? Also, I think it is important for kids to learn skills like canning,  cooking, chopping, etc. Healthy habits start young! Okay, end rant. Back to the jelly!

Here is the recipe so you can make your own.

Ingredients
64 ounces organic 100% apricot nectar
2 cups chopped organic peaches
1 cup water
1/4 cup organic lemon juice
1/2 cup of Low or No-Sugar-Needed Pectin

Peel and chop the peaches. As you can see, my helper was assisting me during this part with her butter knife. As a result, a lot of the pieces were quite large that got dumped into the jelly. If you are making this unassisted, chop the peaches into very small pieces. The idea was just to add a little texture to the jelly.

Pour the apricot juice, water and lemon juice into a large cooking pot. Put on medium-high heat. Add in chopped peaches and slowly sprinkle in the pectin, mixing as you add it so that it does not clump. Stir gently until it boils.

This was the first time I have ever let Gabriella stir a pot on the stove. She thought it was awesome. As soon as it started to boil I had her move back and I took over.

Stir the jelly constantly while it is at a rolling boil for 1 minute. Then remove from heat.
Fill your canning jars and leave 1/2 inch headspace. Put on lids and rings. Put jars in your Canner and cover with water until it is 1-2 inches above the highest jar. Process at a boil for 10 minutes. Then let them rest for 5 minutes before removing (carefully) from canner. Let sit for 24 hours in a cool, dark place before moving to storage.

My batch yielded 11 cups of jam

Organic Low-Sugar Pineapple Jelly

Last night I made some organic, low-sugar pineapple jelly. It was amazing!! Here is the recipe and instructions!

Pour two 32 ounce jars (64 ounces total) of organic 100% unsweetened pineapple juice into a large pot on the stove-top. I used RW Knudsen brand that I got for $1.49 per bottle! 

Add 9 Tablespoons of Low or No-Sugar-Needed Pectin . I add it one or two Tablespoons at a time and stir it in before adding more to prevent clumps. 

Add 9 Tablespoons of Organic Lemon Juice (I use Santa Cruz brand).

Bring to a boil. 

Add 2 1/2 cups of organic sugar and stir. Bring to a rapid boil and boil for 1 minute. *Note: it foams up HUGE so be sure to stir it continually while it is rapidly boiling. 

Once it has boiled rapidly for one minute, turn off the heat and skim off the foam. Pour it into pre-sanitized canning jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. 

After getting the lids and rings on, process them in a hot water bath for at least 5 minutes (I did it for 10 minutes as that is what I always do my jams and jellies for). 

Then remove the jars from the hot water bath and let them cool for 24 hours. 

My batch yielded 10 cups of jelly. 

*For more information on canning and canning safety, be sure to check out Pick Your Own's website. It has great information and USDA guidelines for safe canning practices.