Recipes of a SAHM: Raspberry Freezer Jam

I thought about titling this post: "When Life Gives You... Life, -Improvise" but didn't.  However, I did like the title enough to share it.  Anyhoo...

I took the kids out last Friday for a quick Costco trip (and luckily, escaped spending less than $115!).  My kids love fresh fruit, so I like to stock up on bananas and berries.  I asked Kyla if she wanted blueberries or raspberries.  She chose raspberries, which came in a 6-pack.

When we got home, the kids had a snack and I washed up some of the yummy fresh berries.  Kyla and Maxx each ate one.  Then Kyla left the rest and Maxx started squishing them onto his highchair tray with his forefinger.  Then he launched a couple onto the floor, using his signature reverse side arm throw (my poor kitchen walls and hardwood floors).  I tried again the next morning, offering them some berries with their pancakes.  No go.

Needless to say, I was less than thrilled that I bought all these raspberries and the kids refused to eat them.  What to do, what to do?  Jedd and I would not eat that many berries before they all went bad.  And I don't particularly like cooked fruit.  For the most part, I prefer fruit that is fresh and delicious and believe that it should not be ruined by cooking all the original goodness out of it.

Then I remembered how much I love freezer jam!  I think I like it so much because it retains so much of the fruit's original flavor and zest.  And my kids (especially the biggest one, Jedd) love jam, too.

Side note:  I've never made jam or jelly of any kind before.  I must admit, I hardly even know the basic process of making jam.  I think I got hung up on the idea of having to boil jars and cook fruit and wrote off the whole thing as too much work.  I also have this preconceived notion that if I'm going to go to all that work, I should be making a boatload of jam, but never buy that much fruit, nor really want to store that much jam.  And, really, if I'm going to buy a bunch of fruit, I'd rather enjoy it fresh.  Which brings us back full circle. 

Anyhow, I looked up a couple of freezer jam recipes and was slightly shocked (holy cow!) at the amount of sugar they called for (5 cups of sugar to 4 cups of fruit - ???).  Then I found this recipe and knew that this was the one for me.  Three ingredients, low(er) sugar content, no cooking, no boiling jars and only about 5 cups of jam.  I can do this!

And I did!  I found the Ball Instant Fruit Pectin (recipe is on the package) and some plastic jam containers (great for freezing and reusable tops & bottoms - also by Ball) at the grocery.  I washed the containers (in the dishwasher) and this morning I gathered all three of my ingredients.  45 minutes later, I was enjoying yummy freezer jam on whole wheat white toast.  The longest part of the process is letting it set for 30 minutes.  It was delicious - still had the fresh fruit flavor, not so sugary sweet, still a little tangy, as raspberries should be.

Parting thoughts:

• I might actually buy fruit in the future with the intent to make freezer jam, rather than making it as a "back-up plan."  
• The jam was a slight bit runnier than I would have liked, but perhaps it will thicken?  Even if it doesn't, the flavor is so pure and fresh and yummy that I don't mind. 
• I would have preferred to cut the sugar even more, however, as I understand it, the sugar is what keeps the fruit from going bad.  Anyone know what is the least amount of sugar that one can use to make freezer jam?  The Ball recipe (1.5 cups) was the least that I found.  But I only looked at about 4 recipes.
• My very, very favorite recipes are easy, simple, delicious.  This one fits the bill, it's a keeper!

 Finished product, setting