I had a bit of a dilemma. I had the opportunity to get a lot of peaches free. {Thanks to the church orchards where I live} The peach crop this year was HUGE, and we were able to go pick 200 lbs per family. We were out of town and so my friends picked us about 50 lbs. Now here is the dilemma. I have not canned since college and before that with my mom at home. I don’t own any jars nor do I own a canner and all the stuff that goes with it. We live in a small home and don’t have a lot of room. I know that shouldn’t be an excuse, we do have some food storage, but in boxes under the bed. I have one pantry, and one closet I put stuff in, but other than that NO place to store food. I really wanted to can these peaches and also make peach butter, and jam. I also wanted to test out some new recipes and make them sugar free. So what is my dilemma you ask??? It’s the money. 12 pint jars cost $10.00 and all the canning stuff costs $50. So I didn’t really know what to do.
Since we are really trying to live by the envelope system ,I decided that since I hadn’t saved for it I would wait and do it next year. There is always going to be peaches right? So since I haven’t canned for 10 years anyway why start today since I don’t even have the money set aside for that. Also, I know I can find jars way cheaper through DI or garage sales. So I decided to make freezer jam, and save for next years peach season and garage sale to try to find jars and canning stuff.
So one day after school I made peach freezer jam. I made about 12 pints and they taste super good!
I made two different kinds. One with Raw Honey and one with Stevia. Stevia is a zero calorie natural sweetener, but it is also very strong and I don’t love it. It does taste okay with the jam though, but in peach pie nasty….blah!! I used Stevia in the Raw which is up cup for cup, regular stevia is measured different. I am still on a quest to know the difference. Regular Stevia says only Stevia in it, and Stevia in the raw has Maltodextrine {which I don’t really know what it is} I think it is a filler so that it is easily measured in recipes cup for cup. Which I don’t really like the idea of a “nothing” chemical in my food…just saying. I would love to hear peoples opinions about this!
I used the same recipe as my Strawberry Freezer Jam, with the only difference being to add lemon juice {to prevent browning} and it turned out great. 
Sugar Free Freezer Jam
4 cups Peaches (mashed)
2 T Lemon Juice
1 Cup Sweetener (agave, Honey, Cane Sugar, Stevia)
1 packet Ball No cook Freezer Jam fruit Pectin
Mix together sweetener and Pectin until dissolved, then add four cups of strawberries. Mix together.
Pour into containers. Label containers. Let sit out for an hour and then eat or put in freezer!!
Happy Eating!!
If you decide you want to can pears or applesauce, you are always welcome to use my canning supplies! Seriously 🙂 Your freezer jam looks great, I think I will make some 🙂
Oh canning. I have a love hate relationship with my good ol’ canner. It really seems to cost just as much as getting a canned item on sale but the skill is a good one to have… So our mother’s say. I’ve canned till 2:30am before just to be “in control” since the kids would be asleep but it can really be enjoyable especially when you open that can of cherries that would cost a fortune at the that time of year but really cost hardly anything since you canned it. Anyway I just made peach freezer jam with Stevia and it was GROSS after it thawed. So I won’t be doing that again. Funny- I got free peaches from our close orchard too this season. I hear ya about buying what you have cash for. I’m trying my best to keep to the system too and it’s difficult when the opportunity seems greater than the splurge.
I plan on canning next year. Not sure how I am going to do it. I canned once with my husband’s grandma and it drove me crazy. But now I see the benefit of it all and am excited to be better prepared for next year. I think you went the right way doing the freezer stuff this year. You could have cut the peaches up and froze them to put into smoothies too. And I would definitely prefer the honey over the other choices but that’s just me.
Just wanted to leave a random message and say that I really enjoy your blog! I don’t know how I even stumbled upon it but it is lovely!!
I canned 18 quarts of peaches this year – 18! I finally had to give away my extra box of peaches because I just couldn’t do anymore. I love to can – anything and everything gets canned around here. Let me know when you do it next year and I’d be happy to help. I also have 2 canners, you’re welcome to borrow them.
The church orchard by me also let us go pick for free this year.
I just boiled them for 1 minute to get the skin off, cut them up and froze them. Thanks for the recipe i am now going to make some jam!