Jelly Is A Great Way To Save Money

Who doesn’t love a good piece of toast with your favorite jam or jelly on it in the mornings? Jelly can be made from all sorts of things. There is Mt. Dew jelly, Dr. Pepper Jelly, Pepper Jelly, Watermelon Jelly, Grape Jelly, Strawberry Jelly, Blackberry Jelly and the list goes on. Jelly is easy to make and doesn’t require a lot of knowledge. Jelly is often a beginner’s choice because it only requires a few ingredients and little instructions. Below is a few of the most popular Jelly recipes.

Its need – large pot, small pot, jelly jars, canning pot and rack

Mt Dew Jelly

3 ¼ cups Mt Dew or favorite soda choice

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 ½ cups sugar

1 package sure jell pectin

Remove your lids and rims from your jars and place them all in a medium pot, cover them with water and turn onto medium heat.

Pour the Mt Dew and lemon juice into a large pot, bring to a boil, boil for 3 min. Turn down to low heat and then follow the Sure Jell instructions (you will want to follow the directions for cooked jam/jelly)

As the jelly starts getting thicker you can remove each jar and fill it with jelly (leave ½” headspace), set each seal and rim onto the jar and tighten.

Place the jars into a boiling water bath for approximately 10 min. Remove the jars (I always sit them onto a towel because placing them directly onto the counter cools them down too quickly) let the jars sit and you should hear them ping as they seal. The consistency maybe a little runny but it will sit up over time.

Watermelon Jelly

6 cups pureed watermelon, remove seeds as you cut it

5 cups sugar

½ cup lemon juice

1 pack powdered pectin

Choose a good ripe watermelon and chunk it up, removing any seeds. I place my cut up watermelon into a blender and blend it up. Once I remove it from the blender I pour it through a strainer to remove any chunks or seeds and just keep the juice.

Mix together the sugar, pectin until dissolved, slowly add in the watermelon juice and lemon juice

Pour them all into a non reactive pot and cook to a temperature of 220 degrees, do not cook to fast or the watermelon will burn and stick to the bottom, stir frequently.

While the watermelon jelly is cooking you can heat your rims, jars and lids.

Once the mixture is starting to get thick pour the mixture slowly into the jars and replace lids and rims. Wipe off any excess. Put the jars into a boiling water bath for approximately 10 minutes. Place cooled down jars onto a towel and allow them time to seal. It make take a few days for the jelly to set up if it doesn’t right away.