Join me for #CanItForward day and check out my very first Marmalade creations oh and I have a #Giveaway

Did you know that there is a National Can-It-Forward Day? I’m just starting out learning all the ins and outs about canning and so far I’m very impressed and after only one Marmalade recipe I’m hooked and already come up with different creations and ideas that I want to can. I probably could make Canning a full time job, anyone has interest?

Well, more about me and my canning adventures are further down, for right now, I just wanted to invite each and everyone of you to Join us Saturday, August 16, for International Can-It-Forward Day Hosted by judge of Bravo’s Top Chef Hugh Acheson! Now in its fourth year, Can-It-Forward Day will contain a variety of exciting ways to join in the fun. New this year, Can-It-Forward Day will become International Can-It-Forward Day with special events taking place in Canada, Australia and South Africa!

How cool is that? To think that you can be part of the fun is out of this world. I remember last year I participated because a friend had mentioned it to me and that was actually the first time I really started to think about canning and even created a Pinterest board to keep all the amazing recipes that I would find handy for down the road. Did you know that Ball has an amazing Pinterest board? They also have a pretty good Facebook and Twitter page, lots of tips, ideas and even more help can be found there.

Check out how I did on my very first go-around on canning at home, little ol’ me, yup… Crazy Mom, managed to get a pretty amazing I may add, Plum Marmalade. I’m on cloud nine and if I could marry that stuff, don’t tell my hubby, I would.

The thing that had me always shied away from canning myself was the stove top canner, I was worried what if… the water isn’t hot enough, what if the pressure isn’t right, there are so many what if’s that a brand new canner worries about. Thankfully Ball Canning and the entire team had help on the way and they wanted me to proof to them that even this little Crazy mom could make her very own Marmalade in no time and love it.

I took the challenge and my brand spanking new FreshTech Auto Canner arrived in it’s full glory. I was a little intimidated and decided to check out the recipe booklet that came with it. It had lots of ideas and tips on how to can and how to use the Automatic Home Canning System correctly and also had recipes that would work with the Canning System.

The canning system looked like a rice cooker on steroids, but besides the big key pad with all the numbers, buttons and timers it didn’t look much different to me. Cool; I was able to keep the unit on my counter, plug it in and follow the water instructions as well as the jar heating instructions. Easy breezy.. applesauce peachy. Took me no time to figure out the system. Now that I had that down pad, I had to figure out how the fruit marmalade part would work, wish someone would come with each canning system that handles all that for me, too. LOL… I know, you are probably saying “just got and buy the darn marmalade and move on”. Yeah, well … that may be easier and I could save a little with coupons, but I wanted to make this for my family, fresh from scratch just like millions of Americans do for their family every day, too. So check below how and what I did to end up with beautiful marmalade, Plum Marmalade to boot.

The recipe came courtesy of Ball canning from their website. They have a lot of awesome tips and ideas and lots of recipes for the FreshTech Auto Canning System that are tried and approved to be used in the Automatic Home Canning System. I’m totally in love with the Automatic Home Canning System, it has given me the confidence that I can do this, too. Best part, I don’t have to worry about temperatures, time, water level and so on, all that is automatically handled by the Canning System. It Automatically senses, and constantly monitors, time and temperature optimized for each recipe.

I followed the recipe for my plums to the T and it turned out amazing! I told my husband about my Plum Marmalade and he kind of pulled his nose up and said under a mumbling “Uhhh Plums, for real….I don’t like Plums at all, wish it was something good.” My first thought was, mine all mine and I will not share and he is on a diet anyways, there it’s ALL mine!! Well… that quickly changed when he did take a spoon to try the leftover Marmalade mass and all I heard was “That stuff is AMAZING”, he even called his mom and grandma who can a lot all the time and told them to come over and try this, he wouldn’t stop eating it, guess someone forgot to mention that you put marmalade on bread. He ate it all on a spoon like it was going out of style.

I’m very proud of myself that I managed to can my very first set of fruit and I can not wait to create many, many more recipes. The Automatic Canning system does limit you to the recipes that are part of the included book or some on their website, I hope they will add more in the future so I can one day be a big canner like so many people around me. But for now the recipes that are approved for the system are plenty for me from fruit, Jams to Tomatoes and Salsa.

All these are pre-programed into the Automatic Canning system and all you do once your Fruit or Vegetable are done and packed into the jars, hit the preset button for what you are making and step away… That’s it! Once it’s done you will get a melody alerting you that your canning process is done and to remove the finished canned goods, let them rest on a towel for 12-24hrs (This is very important I was told… Do NOT touch!!). That’s it… you can do this. Trust me, if I can…. anyone can!! The automatic canning system will be your best friend, especially now come fall… OH the possibilities. Be sure to check out the Automatic Home canning System to get all the ins and outs about it.

There you have it, I’m in love with canning thanks to the Ball FreshTech Automatic Canning System, my new best friend. I highly recommend it for beginners or people that haven’t canned or won’t can a lot, this system is awesome but will also limit you for now in what you can do until Ball will release more recipes in the future. Definitely worth it for me and I will be stocking my pantry with all home made goodies in the months and years to come. No more store bought for us.

Giveaway Time …

I have teamed up with the wonderful people at Ball canning and they wanted me to host a Giveaway and I gladly accepted. I knew my readers would love it. One lucky 2Boys+1Girl=OneCrazyMom reader will win the following prize pack… Good Luck!

• The Ball Canning Discovery Kit  A kit designed to demystify the home canning process and make fresh preserving accessible for even the most novice canner (Retail value $11.99)
• The New Limited Edition Spring Green Heritage Collection Jars  These limited edition jars commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Ball brothers’ “Perfection” Jar and come in a beautiful green tint.  These are being produced only in 2014 and are available in both pint and quart varieties.  The winner will receive a case of each size. (Pint retail value: $9.99 per case/ Quart retail value $12.99 per case)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This Post is sponsored by Ball Canning, all opinions and ideas are my own and I’m not influenced by anyone or anything, I did receive promotional items to facilitate a review; Facebook is not affiliated with this Giveaway and released from any and all liability they may have. The winner will receive the product from the company or PR company directly, I can not be responsible for lost, damaged or missing Giveaway prizes.