Carolina Crunch: Homemade Coleslaw Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 bag (2 pounds) coleslaw mix
• 1 large carrot, shredded or shaved (I shaved it using my potato peeler)
• 1 thinly chopped bell pepper
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients and let aside for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, when the hour is nearly over, gather your syrup components and place them in a pot.

• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 cup of water
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. celery seeds
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds

3. Place all of the syrup ingredients in a pot over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and everything is combined.
4. When the hour is up, drain the slaw mixture - I rinsed and drained it twice. Combine the slaw and syrup. Stir it well so that the slaw is evenly coated with the syrup.
5. Fill your hot jars with slaw and drizzle with some of the syrup. I started by filling all of my jars with the slaw mix, then went back through and added equal amounts of the syrup to each jar. Fill to a headspace of 1/2 inch.
6. Wipe the rims of the jars with a paper towel dipped in vinegar (this will remove any food particles from the rims).
7. Put on the flat lid and the ring/band, then tighten to finger tight.
8. When you've finished filling and sealing the jars, place them in your water bath canner, making sure the water is at least 1 inch above the jars.
9. Remember to add a splash of vinegar to the water in your canner to avoid your jars from becoming foggy (this should be done every time you use your canner).
10. Bring the water to a boil in the canner once all of your jars are filled. Allow 10 minutes to boil.
11. Turn off the heat and leave the canner to cool for 5 minutes. At this stage, you can remove the jars from the canner using your jar lifter. Place them on a clean towel and set them to cool completely.
12. As the jars seal, you will begin to hear a wonderful pinging!
13. Take off the bands.
14. Make sure the jars are clean by wiping them down.
15. Label your jars with the contents and the date, and store them in your pantry!!
16. You now have excellent crunchy coleslaw at your disposal to consume whenever you want!
17. This recipe yielded five pints of coleslaw.
18. Enjoy!