A great way to eat and preserve winter veggies, Paleo Pickled Beets!
I have always been a busty girl. My training bra days were brief, and by the 7th grade, I had a generous C cup. By the time junior high started, I was in a DD. No matter the size and shape of the rest of my body, my boobs are always a respectable DD, or larger. My latest bra purchase was II. I have never been able to buy delicate (or cheep) bras, they are always sturdy, plain and as versatile as possible. Rarely can I find one less than $100.
Swimsuits are a pain to shop for, sports bras are a thorn in my side! Never have I been able to wear cute strappy tank tops, halter tops give me a headache, and strapless… HA! Forget about that. Even my 20-year-old breasts, although spectacular; were too heavy for such nonsense.
Some of you ladies feel my pain, wearing 2 or 3 sports bras to work out, paying $200 for a bikini that fits, and having armpit pillows when you lie down. Of course, there are just as many people who scoff at us poor chesty girls whining about the gift of giant jugs. Know that little or big; breasts are amazing things, and they need to be checked regularly and appreciated as a great body part.
I had an interesting interaction at the local pool a few weeks ago. The change room was packed, and there were no private change rooms available, I piled my stuff on the bench beside a family: mom and 2 girls, I would guess 5 and 8 years old. The 5-year-old was firing off questions for mom, as 5-year-olds do, and I chuckled a bit to myself.
I was trying to get dry enough to struggle back into my leggings for the ride home. Putting leggings on wet skin is like stuffing toothpaste back into the tube. I pulled out my recently purchased bra (II, but only $89!), and leaned forward to put it on. The little girl beside me stopped asking questions and proclaimed “That bra is ENORMOUS”.
I laughed, her mom looked embarrassed and apologized, “My kids really love boobs, I’m sorry” I assured her it wasn’t a problem, the bra is enormous, after all, I joked with the little girl she could wear it like a hat, she shyly smiled at me like that was the silliest thing she had heard. I told the little girl that, “bras can be expensive and I had just bought this one, I picked it out because of the little pink bow in the middle”.
I am standing in the change room, wearing only a bra and towel when this 5-year-old girl cocks her head to the side and says “You look like a princess” I smiled and said “Thank you” as mom hurried the kids out of the change room. That is a first, no-pants princess.
Pickled beets, I guess I should talk a bit about this recipe. I LOVE pickled beets, pickled anything really, it took a few tries to get the perfect sweet/salt balance without using sugar for these. I even used apple cider vinegar that I had made myself! Thank you pinterest. Pickled beets are great on cheese plates, with roast beef or on their own in a salad (stay tuned for that recipe!)
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Paleo Pickled Beets
Description
A great way to preserve winter veggies with an extra tang.
Ingredients
- 5 lbs beets, red, golden, any type is fine
- 2 cups water
- 3 cups apple cider vinegar
- 2 cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 peppercorns
- 4 allspice berries
- Jars, lids, canning pot
Optional
- Suitable canning music. I listened to Mariah, U2 and Def Leppard, but I’ll leave that to your personal preference. Maybe some primal drumming will make it all feel more “caveman”? Or Holley’s Canning Jams.
Instructions
- Wash and peel beets (greens are also edible and delicious!)
- Slice larger beets, put in a pot of water and steam for 3-5 min, drain but keep the water
- Add water (using the beet water), apple cider vinegar, cloves, bay leaf cinnamon stick, peppercorns and allspice berries, bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.
- Prepare the jars, sterilizing the glass, rings and lids.
- Gently pack the steamed beets into the jars leaving 1/2 inch of space from the top. (while they are still hot)
- Add brine to the jars, filled so that there is 1/2 inch space from the top, but the beets are covered.
- Wipe jar rims and put hot lids on.
- You can place them in the fridge here and in a few days they are ready to eat. They will last 2/3 weeks unprocessed in the fridge.
- If you decide to water bath can them (as I did) they must be submerged in boiling water 20 minutes (depending on your elevation) and make sure they seal!
Notes
Familiarize yourself with water bath canning here
- Category: Preserves
- Method: Canning
This looks yummy! I just picked up some beets from my CSA and was going to roast them, I think I will try this instead!
Hahahaha… very funny… i started reading expecting to read about beets and instead found myself reading about someone’s spectacular boobs! I sent it along to my daughter who has a similar ‘problem’ and she typed back “I hate beets!” I said “i know, but it’s not about beets it’s about boobs!” So not only did i get a (sugarless) pickled beet recipe to try, but my daughter got the relief of knowing she’s not alone, hahahaha.
Happy to help on both counts! Us busty girls have to stick together! 🙂
So you peeled the beets raw or did you blanch thrm first? My mother recommended the blanching first for 5 minutes then throwing threm into a ice bath so the skinw ould come off easier. Thoughts? 🙂 its my first time canning so im a bit under educated and overwhelmed by the whole idea. Ha.
I have done both! Your MIL is right, a quick blanch and into ice water and the peels slip right off. Beets could stain your hands (and counters and clothes). So do whatever works best for you. Once they are done processing they are cooked either way! 🙂
Do I need to add salt when pickling the beets?
You can add salt! I have seen many recipes with added salt, but I did not add it in this particular recipe!
Can’t wait to do this. I’m out of apple cider vinegar. I have huge beets in my garden. I am so happy that this recipe doesn’t call for any sugar. Beets are sweet enough.
It offends me when people add unnecessary sugar to things.
I completely agree with you Lisa!
Hi I’m having a hard time following parts of this recipe. So, we can peel the beets however we need right? Then you say to steam them, but do you simply put them in the water and boil them or are they above water? And when you say to add the brine, are you talking about the beet water AC vinegar boiled mixture? When boiling this you leave the beets out correct? Sorry this is my first time trying anything like this, I am so so happy to find a sugar free recipe! Thank you Holley
absolutely, however, works best for you to peel the beets, steamed can be much easier. But make sure you scrub them so that you can use the beet water for the brine! If you want to boil the beets instead of steaming, go ahead, but make sure you don’t overcook them, they will become mushy.
Yes, leave the beets out while you boil the brine. or you run the risk of overcooking and turning them to mush. Let us know how it goes!
Can I use a pressure canner rather than hot water bath to preserve these long-term?
You sure can! Check out NCHC for times and tips!
Love this recipe! I blogged about it here: https://plantsequoiasblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/sugar-free-pickled-beets/
Thanks Nicole! What a compliment! Glad you enjoyed it!
Mmm mmmm good! Thank you for a delicious recipe
Thank you for reading!
Next time get to the point instead of talking about your enormous boobs. At least show us a picture of them or something if you feel the need to talk about them in your cooking blog. I came here to find a beet recipe that didn’t have sugar added. Maybe start another topic like “cooking with big boobs” or “my enormous boobs get in the way while I cook”.
Fair point Jerry, you obviously didn’t read the rest of my anecdote, as it had an underlying theme of self-acceptance thru someone else’s eyes, in this case, a small child and a stranger. Next time you don’t have to read the writing, go ahead and skip down to the recipe. I think with the new redesign of our site Raj has arranged a special section JUST so I can talk about hard-hitting issues and problems like my huge boobs. Hope you enjoyed the free sugar-free pickled beet recipe!
Just harvested 7 pounds of beets and I’m making this today. Can’t rate this yet as they haven’t pickled yet! But they smell good! Wasn’t sure how long to simmer the brine, I’m going with 10 minutes. I’m going the fridge way only because I don’t have canning equipment.
Hopefully you LOVEEEEEEE them! The fridge way is good, I never have enough space in the fridge for all my ferments and experiments. 🙂
Hi! Thank you so much for this tecipe. I used a different one for my first batch and it didnt mention cooking the beets so im left with delIcious but very. Crunchy beets. If i process my beets in a hot water bath do they atill need to be stored in the fridge or are they shelf stable? Can i leave the spices out or ArE they necessary fOr the canning to work?
if you process them they are shelf-stable! Which is awesome, because who has room in the fridge for an entire shelf of beets?
Spices are not necessary! just the salt and vinegar!!
Hi,
I’M MAKING THIS BUT REALIZED PART WAY THROUGH THAT THERE IS NO SALT IN THE RECIPE. iS THIS A MISTAKE?
tHANKS
No mistake, this is a vinegar brine for sweet pickled beets, I didn’t use salt, you could add a 1 tsp if you wanted, as salt is always a nice balancer for sweet!
Hi! Does the 2 cups of water in the recipe refer to the water you steam the beets with? or does that mean another 2 cups of water in addition to the amount used to steam the beets? Thank you! 🙂
Hey Nichole, I would use that water to steam the beets and then add that beet water to the recipe, alternately you can just add fresh water to the recipe, so its not overwhelmingly vinegar tasting.