My friends have been calling. They leave me messages “Hey, Alison, I haven’t heard from you since you got back. You don’t pick up the phone, you haven’t been on Facebook and I haven’t received a text in at least a week. Are you okay?”

The answer is NO I AM NOT OKAY! I am canning for crying out loud! I did something which can only be explained as maniacal.

It all started out so innocently. I signed up to buy two large boxes of tomatoes through my local bulk buy group. We go through a lot of canned tomatoes every year and I don’t want my family to be exposed to the bisphenol A (BPA) that the cans are lined with. So, after canning (in glass Mason jars) only one box last year, and running out mid-year, I thought I’d better get two for this year.

It was when I went to pick up the tomatoes at the farm stand where I started to dig my deep ditch. My friend Susan started pointing out the gorgeous Roma tomatoes, the golden peaches and the plums and Ginger Crisp apples that were all no spray, direct from the farmer and very affordable, just waiting to be taken home. It was worse than going to the animal shelter!

Long story short, I ended up with 6 boxes in my trunk, 3 of which were tomatoes.

Truth is, it’s not only about limiting exposure to BPA, it’s also about planning.

Canning our food in advance makes busy weeknight meals a breeze to whip up. It saves me time, money and is 100% healthier than anything I can purchase at the store. I control the salt, the sugar, the oil, everything. I know exactly what is in the food I am feeding my family.

Every winter without fail we lose power. Two years ago it was for 8 days. The winter after that we awoke on Christmas morning to no power. So if I freeze much I am always in jeopardy that we are going to lose that investment (of both time and money).

Time to get to work!

I bid my children goodnight and got to work. The first night I was up until midnight. The second night I was up until 1am. The third night I was again up until 1am.

It was at this point that one might start feeling a tad bit sorry for oneself. Unfortunately I had run out of not only jars but brains as well. I went to the store for more jars and ended up with…… It’s hard to tell you this……I’m actually a bit embarrassed at my outright idiocy.

I bought a whole salmon! Yes. I did. I bought MORE to can!

Back to it….
I’d like to stay awhile and tell you all about BPA and how we can buy all the BPA free plastic water bottles we want but the number one place we’re exposed to BPA is in canned foods (the aluminum cans have to be coated with plastic and yep, it’s plastic which contains BPA) but I can’t. I have more tomatoes staring at me, a box of peaches that needs to be dealt with and…… I pre-ordered ANOTHER 3 boxes of tomatoes to can next week! AHHHHHHHHH!

Check out this fabulous article at Environmental Working Group and
learn how to reduce your family’s exposure to bisphenol A (BPA)

Ahhhh, fresh berries. They’re my favorite part of summer. I love to be in the middle of a field of berries, listening to the birds chatter, popping warm luscious berries in my mouth, just letting my mind wander. It’s a sensory delight; taste, touch, smell. It’s all good (except maybe the thorns!). 

It’s when I get the berries home that the real work begins. Jam is usually first on my list.  On a cold day in December nothing quite hits the spot like homemade bread, fresh out of the oven, piled high with homemade jam.

For years I made cooked jam, slaving over a hot stove in an oven of a house, so that I could give it away as gifts. After many years (and I mean many, I apparently have a thick skull), I realized that I had maybe given away three jars of jam the whole year and we were eating the rest. I decided tea towels would have to do as a hostess gift.

Not only did I realize that cooked jam was a whole lot more work than freezer jam, I also realized that I preferred the taste of freezer jam. The berries weren’t cooked. They were fresh and bright in color. The taste was reticent of an actual berry instead of a mushed up, cooked to extinction berry-like creature.

My major problem with most jam is that it is loaded with sugar. And I’m here to tell you that it just doesn’t have to be. I mean, we eat and enjoy fresh berries, right? They don’t generally need sugar to taste good, they’re good on their own.

And yes, I tried the pectin box that allowed the jam to be made with alternative sweeteners or juice. Still, it just didn’t turn out to my liking. It left the berries with a dull lifeless flavor.  I wanted to taste SUMMER in a jar. Is that asking too much?

Finally I found this pectin, Ball Instant Fruit Pectin and it’s now the only one I use. It’s relatively low in sugar, you can use alternate sweeteners if you like (which I haven’t tried, because it’s hard to get the consistency with alternative sweeteners and I refuse to feed my family chemicals, ahem, I mean artificial sweeteners) and it’s super easy. I mean seriously EASY.

Here are the steps for strawberry freezer jam. (You can use whatever kind of fruit you want.)

Wash berries. Even if you use organic strawberries, wash them, they grow low to the ground and are FILTHY!

Hull strawberries and cut into small pieces

Crush strawberries- I use my potato masher

In a separate bowl mix pectin with sugar (preferably organic)

Add strawberries to pectin and stir for 3 minutes

Ladle strawberry mixture into sterilized GLASS jars. Please, please, I am begging you, Do not use plastic containers to store your jam in. Plastic leaches, especially when it comes into contact with anything acidic, and you don’t want to feed your family toast with plastiscines (we’re going for toast with jam). Use straight sided glass jars (even old peanut butter jars with their original lid work great!) so they don’t swell and burst in the freezer.

Place in refrigerator overnight. You can store in the fridge if you’ll be using the jam right away but if you plan to eat your jam over time, place in the freezer for up to a year.

Note to all you cooked jam fanatics: I will be expecting a thank you note in the comment area below after you have whipped up a batch of this delectable toast topper without breaking a sweat.

Bisphenol A, otherwise known as BPA, has been in the news for the last couple of years and, as many of you already know, is a known endocrine disruptor. The endrocrine system is basically the body’s hormone control center and is directly related to reproduction. Unfortunately, it is our children who tend to get the most exposure to BPA. Baby bottles and water bottles have gotten quite a bit of attention regarding BPA but what about those handy dandy little cups that keep spills at bay?

Sippy cups

These are generally made out of #5 plastic and are considered relatively safe. BPA- free is, of course, a safer choice, with food grade stainless steel being the best choice.

I believe that liquid should not be left in plastic of any kind for more than a few hours. This includes BPA free sippy cups.  Why? Because I don’t trust plastic. I have lost all confidence in the FDA to keep us safe from plastics and just because they claim that anything BPA free is safe doesn’t mean that next year there won’t be another plasticene that is found to leach. I would rather just be safe and stay away from all plastic. That being said, stainless steel sippy cups can be pricey and I know that even I still have two sippy cups made with BPA sitting in my cupboard. So my general guidelines for plastic sippy’s of any kind are:

• A good rule of thumb is to use a new sippy, with new liquid in it every day. If water has sat overnight in a sippy, it’s a good idea to dump it and get a new one out of the cupboard.
• If you wash your sippy cups in the dishwasher (top rack only) I highly advise to replace them every 6 months to a year. Anything that’s been through the dishwasher many times, chewed on, or is damaged in any way is worth replacing frequently. (Keep this in mind when pricing stainless steel sippy’s which do not need to be replaced ever.)
• Never leave in the sun, a hot car or microwave.
• Anything acidic such as juice makes plastic leach. If at all possible serve juice in a glass or stainless steel sippy.
• Anything fatty such as milk makes plastic leach.  If at all possible serve milk in a glass or stainless steel sippy.

Where To Buy Safe Sippy Cups

In the past two years manufacturing of stainless steel sippee cups has drastically increased. Plastic used to be the only choice. Now BPA free sippy cups are even available at such places as Target. However finding stainless steel sippy’s can be a bit more challenging. personally, I really like the Kleen Kanteen stainless steel sippy cups. They can be used as a regular water bottle or converted to a sippy. I got mine online at Reusable Bags and have been very happy with it. We also have a cute OGGI brand pink stainless steel sippy that has yet to leak.

Amazon is always a great place to read comments from other moms. There are many brands out there so, do a little research, find which brand you like best and then Bing it. Overstock.com and other discount online stores often have just what you were looking for only in last years color. That being said, I will again, suggest Reusablebags.com. They have excellent customer service, reasonable shipping prices and a wide variety of brands and designs to choose from.

I have found that REI has pretty comparable prices when it comes to water bottles and sippy cups. They don’t have a lot of sippy cup selection but if you’re near an REI they’re worth checking out.

Don’t Be Fooled by Aluminum

I have been fortunate enough to find stainless steel sippy’s for really good prices at discount stores such as TJ Maxx and Ross. However, usually when I find what is seemingly a stainless steel water bottle or sippee for a really good price, they are actually aluminum. I don’t recommend aluminum because it has to be coated with……drum roll please………. plastic in order for it to be food grade. Like  in the aluminim cans that our canned goods come in, that plastic coating contains BPA.

Washing Sippy Cups and Water Bottles

Since sippy cups and water bottles have become an “investment” I now wash all of them by hand. Especially the lids (which I’ve ruined in the dishwasher, even the top rack). The key to keeping germs and creepy crawlies out is to let that container dry out completely. Moisture is bacteria’s best friend so make sure it’s completely dry between uses (and before putting the lid on and putting in the cupboard).

There’s no need to buy special cleaners for your stainless steel bottles. Simply use dish soap or, for the bottle with a really small neck, spray in some hydrogen peroxide and (from a separate bottle) spray in some white vinegar. This combination has been proven to kill bacteria such as e.coli and salmonella as well as bleach. I keep a baby bottle brush around just for my water bottles and sippy cups. This gets all of the hard to reach places and makes the job go quickly.

Baby Shower Gift Idea!

Although I do love to buy a cute outfit for a baby shower I now spend that money on a stainless steel sippy or two. For the price of an outfit you can give a gift that will be used on a daily basis, carried countless miles, and most importantly, you will play a part in lessening that child’s exposure to a truly toxic chemical.