Slow Cooker Vanilla Peach Jam

I have decided that I love using a crock pot for things like Jam, Apple Sauce and Apple Butter. I wonder what other things I can use my crock pot for when it comes to canning.

Maybe for our favorite Salsa or Spaghetti sauce.....not sure the crock pot is big enough for those though I like to make A LOT at a time. But if you were just doing a single or double batch it would probably work great!

I developed this recipe last year during peach season. It was so simple to make and if you are brave like me you may not even worry about water bathing them. Do this at your own risk!

But this is what I do and I find it works well..... I make sure my jars are good and hot either put in a 250 degree oven, sterilized and fresh out of heat dry in the dishwasher or in boiling water on the stove.

Then I make sure the jam is still very hot. I put the hot jam in a hot jar and then put a sterilized lid on tight and leave them to cool. More often then not they all seal all on their own. If one happens to not that one goes in the fridge and we eat it right away. They usually all seal though.

I only will do this with things that I know preserve well and have a high sugar/acid content like jams and apples sauces etc.

It isn't "recommended" as a safe way to bottle but I'm just saying I have done it and never had a problem. I learned it from Mom who learned it from her Mom......and well you know how it goes.

We have been enjoying this jam all year long and we like it so much that if I can get my hands on some more peaches this fall I will make some more.

Slow Cooker Vanilla Peach Jam

12 cups coarsely chopped peaches that were pitted and peeled
3 Tablespoons Calcium Water (from Pamona's Pectin - read insert inside box)
4 Tablespoons Pamona's Pectin
3 cups Sucanat or Turbinado Sugar
1/2 Tablespoon scrapings inside of Vanilla Bean (4-5 vanilla beans)
Zest and Juice of 2 Lemons

Place peaches and calcium water in large crock pot and stir to combine. In separate bowl mix Sucanat and Pectin together. In crock pot add vanilla seeds and pods if you want (just be sure to remove pods before bottling). Stir in Lemon zest and juice and cook on high until it is good and hot then add the Sucanat/Pectin mixture and stir well. Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6.

At this point you can place in jars and water bath can for 10 minutes to seal or look above to see what I usually do. Or you can just put it in the fridge but you will need to eat it within a couple of weeks or less. I'm sure it would also freeze well if you wanted to do that.

Our sourdough bread is super tasty with peach jam.....learned most all I know about sourdough from this awesome class!

My Weekly Meal Plan

We are in full swing of enjoying lots of summer fun with Family! Last week the kids spent some time with their grandparents while Ry and I had a staycation.....where we stayed home, read, watched movies, did a little shopping and had a all around great time just the two of us. All in honor of our 19th wedding anniversary coming up next week.

When we went to pick up the kids my Brother his Wife and their new baby were visiting and I got to hold my newest niece! Such a beautiful sweet baby. I could have held her for hours and hours. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture she is the cutest thing ever.

Things are a little mixed up this week because of a family reunion but as usual it will be tasty.

My Weekly Meal Plan

Monday:
Orange Veggie Stir Fry

Tuesday:
Taco Sundays

Wednesday:
Summer Strawberry Salad with a Kick

Thursday:
Burritos

Friday:
Tinfoil Dinners

Saturday:
Taco Soup, No Knead Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread

Sunday:
Leftovers

Starts in 5 days! It's been a little while since I have done a cleanse I'm thinking it is time to do one again.

My Weekly Meal Plan

Okay so I took a little unplanned time off from blogging last week and very much enjoyed the break. Ryan was out of town with work all week so we didn't even meal plan. It was kind of fun to just wing it and be less scheduled and it may be like that off and on this Summer but this week I need at least some sort of a plan!

Here are a couple highlights from the past two weeks and then this weeks menu plan!

We had a Birthday Party for my Grandma who turned 80! I keep saying that I hope I have some of those genes......she definitely doesn't look, act or move like she is 80.  Aunt Em had a fun quiz game for the great-grand-kids. They learned lots of fun things they didn't know about grandma heck I even learned some things.

I have said for a long time that Summer's are for families.....so I really enjoy it when the youth camps and things are over so we have more time to just all be together. Both our little family and with extended family!

Cousins spent a lot of time together last week and it was lots of fun. I think the highlight though had to be the water balloon fight in grandma's back yard!

 I decided to start purging the house again and to try to be done with it before harvest time so then I will be able to focus on enjoying and preserving the harvest! I'm in hopes for lots and lots so I can refill my food storage room.

My Weekly Meal Plan

Monday:
Zucchini Casserole - Dinner is already made tonight! We made two of these yesterday....YUMMM! Our zucchini is doing awesome.

Tuesday:
Tostadas

Wednesday: 
Herbed Quinoa Garden Veggie Salad

Thursday:
Grilled Veggie Sandwich

Friday:
Chicken Garden Veggie Quinoa Skillet

Saturday:
Leftovers

Sunday:
Crock-pot Lasagna

Mango Soft Serve Ice Cream

I cannot really take credit for this recipe because I totally got the idea from Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers.  Thanks Laura!  Her Pineapple flavor is really good too but Costco hasn't had their organic frozen pineapple lately (at least not the one we shop at). But they have the mango!

Ryan says he likes the mango best because it is so creamy but you could use other kinds of frozen fruit too. We want to try apricot, peach, raspberry and I know Laura tried strawberry also and it went over well.

Just to let you know this is thick stuff and blending in a regular blender may prove a bit frustrating. I think a food processor (a fairly large nice one) would probably work best. But since I don't have one right now I used my Blendtec with the large Wildside jar. It works really well but does take a little patience.

I have to stop and stir a few times before it really blends well. It still takes me less than 5 minutes though. Using my twister jar would actually work better but I would have to half the recipe and blend it in two batches and this way is just faster. But if I was only needing one or two servings I wouldn't hesitate to half the recipe and use that twister jar. It is the perfect thing for really thick blends.

Mango Soft Serve Ice Cream

1 can coconut milk, chilled  (I tend to always keep a couple cans in the fridge)
1 pinch of Real Salt
4 cups frozen mango
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
3-5 drops liquid stevia (optional, don't really need mango is nice a sweet but if you like it sweeter)

Place all ingredients into food processor or powerful blender. Blend until smooth (not higher than speed 3 if using a high speed blender, too high of a speed can potentially separate coconut milk and make it grainy). Also remember it is thick you will have to stop and stir a few times until the machine can pull it down.

My Weekly Meal Plan

You know I have some new recipes I have been itching to post and hope to get them posted in the next few weeks. Sorry but I have decided that this blog will fit my schedule not the other way around and this summer computer time is seeming to be limited. But don't worry recipes will come and will continue to come just maybe not as often. 

We had another wonderful good kind of busy summer fun week! Lots of work and weeding and gardening. Missy got the itch to wash the car and the front and back porches.....Maybe she just wanted an excuse to cool off in the water but that's fine with me it was needed! I hope she thinks washing windows this week would be a good idea. ;) We shall see.

For the holiday weekend we got out of the heat and spent a few days up the mountain in Brian Head. We swam, played games and more games, watched the rain and hail hit hard on the afternoon of the 4th, Ryan read us THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, then went and ended up right under a spectacular fire works show.

It was great fun just being together as a family! Sometimes I think we don't getaway often enough....but it's always good to come home too.

The next day we went up to the highest peak in Brian Head. It was a perfect sunny day for it. We also had fun trying to identify all the birds and herbs around the area!

You can see for miles and miles from Brian Head Peak! But now we are back down to lower ground and ready for another week with another week of meal plans. Hope y'all are having a great summer! (Oh did I mention we visited with some people from Texas up on the peak! I told Ryan that if I ever lived in Texas I would for sure pick up the accent. ;)

My Weekly Meal Plan

Monday:
Rainbow Veggie Stir Fry

Tuesday:
Fajitas

Wednesday:
Layered Salad in a Jar with this salad dressing recipe (I have been wanting to try some salads in a jar what better time then on our salad day this summer)

Thursday:
Flatbread Falafel Sandwich

Friday:
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Packets (cooked outside of course)

Saturday:
Leftovers

Sunday:
Roasted Veggies in the Crock Pot