My kids love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and jelly on about everything else for that matter.  This year though, it seems that grapes and strawberries and most other fruits have not really come down in price, so making jelly cost a lot more than usual.  There is, however, a real easy and cheap way to make jelly.  All you have to do is use some 100% fruit juice instead of the actual fruit.  Making jelly can be hard work, so take all that work out of it just by using 100% fruit juice.

Cheater Grape Jelly

3 cups 100% grape juice (bottled or from concentrate)

1 package powdered pectin

4 cups sugar

Sterilized glass jars with lids and rims

Combine grape juice and pectin in a sauce pan using a whisk to get rid of the lumps.   Bring mixture to a boil.  After the pectin/juice mixture has come to a boil stir in the sugar.  Bring it back up to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.  There will be some thickened foam on the top of the jelly, just skim this off to make the jelly prettier in the jars.  Pour jelly into your jars and screw the lids on.  Next, you will need to place the jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.  This enables you to leave your jelly on the shelf for up to 1 year.  If you do not want to do that, you can place them in your refrigerator.  The jelly will store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

I have made this jelly several times and sometimes you have to let it sit for awhile to completely gel,  so be patient.

You can use any flavor fruit juice to make the jelly.  One of my favorites is  to use apple juice and  add Red Hots candy to the juice/ pectin mixture.  The jars are so pretty for holidays like Christmas or Valentine’s Day and it also has a great apple cinnamon flavor! Some other popular flavors are orange, lemon and berry.  I have also heard of people using Kool-aid and adding the water called for in the recipe.  Whichever one you decide to make, be sure to read the insert included with the pectin and it will give you specific instructions for making jelly from juice.   These also make really nice frugal gifts.