Quick and Easy! No cook! Strawberry Freezer Jam

Hi all! It's TAX DAY, and for me, that means no more tax work and I have a little more free time. Like maybe time to unpack from Hawaii! And do laundry! And blog! And make QUICK AND EASY STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM! It's currently 9:00 am and I've already made a double batch AND cleaned the kitchen. (OK, so I haven't showered yet, or gotten dressed, but let's be reasonable, OK?)

We have a new (awesome) market near us called Harbor Greens and yesterday Grace and I were there to get some fruit and they were selling a whole flat (that's EIGHT POUNDS!) of strawberries! for $6! Woohoo! That's a bargain I tell you. (And I KNOW bargains), so I bought a flat knowing I'd make my family's favorite jam with some of it.

And that's just what I did!

What you'll need:
4 cups of crushed strawberries
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 package of No Cook Freezer Jam pectin (I used Mrs Wages brand this time, but I've also used Ball)

I like to wash and trim the stems off the strawberries, then "pulse" them in my food processor. It's faster than crushing them. And Charlie loves to "help" by pressing the pulse button.

You want to make sure and use the correct amount of fruit in order for the pectin to work properly. If you try and use more fruit the jam doesn't firm up like it's supposed to.

Next you whisk the sugar with the pectin, and then mix in the fruit. Let it sit for three minutes to "rest". (This is a good time to pour yourself another cup of coffee. Or wine, depending on what time of day it is).

Finally, you pour it into your containers (Any clean, freezable, container with a lid will do). And that's it! Let them sit for about 30 minutes. They'll keep about a month in the refrigerator or a year in the freezer. 

It took about a half hour start to finish and I've got a year's worth of homemade jam for under $20 (and that includes new canning jars!)