Trash Jam

So I’m learning to not throw so much away and find a use for them instead. This is trash jam.

Over the last month I have been trying to snag any fruits the kids would have normally thrown away. Things like the tops of strawberries. The random strawberries my pre schooler won’t eat after taking a huge bite out of it lol. I saved some blueberries that had just about gone bad. Also a bag of grapes that were way to sour for our liking. I had threw them all into the freezer.

Once you think you have enough saved up it’s time to make some jam! You will need canning jars to put your jam into I suggest the 250 ml size but if you think your family will go through 500 ml before it goes bad then use that size instead. Throw all your frozen “trash” into a pot. Add a little bit of water and start heating up.

Bring your berries up to a boil and let it simmer for a bit, maybe an hour or so. Yup I’m sorry I’m going to teach you to use those instincts and the trial and error method, I’m not so big on recipes I do use them obviously but a lot of the times I just wing it and let me ancestors guide me lol. Anyways you want to boil all that goodness from all those things you’ve got cooking extracted. Your also looking to reduce down the liquid so the longer you simmer the thicker the jam. Add your sugar, the amount will depend on your pectin I think mine said 6 cups 🤦‍♀️ ugh I know I need to mess with the recipe to find the lowest sugar or honey or something this is to much refined sugar.

Once your happy with it all strain out the fruits. You can also blend them up if you like for a smoother jam with the berries included or before freezing make sure to cut fruits small and cut off anything you don’t want to eat. That will give you a chunky jam.

Put your liquid back into the pot and follow the instructions on your pectin. Mine said to bring back to a boil then to jar up. For me this months worth of things we would have trashed made us 3 and a little bit of a 250 ml jars of jam! I’m sorry but how amazing is that and with things getting increasingly out of hand we need to learn these things.

Such a beautiful colour. This picture does not do it justice. And what’s great is that your trash jam will always change because it is completely dependent on what fruits you have bought or harvested over that month! Anyways make sure you water bath can all your full jars so you can put them on your shelf. Which I can teach you how to do in another post if your interested.

Don’t forget we are trying to build a stock while berries are in season so we can enjoy their taste over the winter. I really hope you give this a try!

Blessings 💖