I have written previously about canning Salsa using Clear Gel.  At the time of that post, I drained some of the liquid from the tomatoes I was using after putting them through the strainer.  I did this so that I didn't have to boil it away and take so much time at the stove.

This year, I planted Roma tomatoes and have had a bumper crop!

I slice them in half...

And put them through my strainer.  See how much thicker they are?  Romas do not have as much liquid in them.  I was sooooo excited to think that I could cut down the time to make this favorite of mine!

See how thick it is!

Here is an additional change I made to the process.  I used my little Veggiechop device.  I originally purchased it because it was powerless (go to this link to see how it operates).  It was a tool I thought we could use camping and if we lost power.  However....I have come to LOVE THIS!  I use it instead of my Food Processor or it I need to chop something quick.  It's awesome!

Look at what 10 pulls on the string did to 2 quartered onions.

Jalapeños were quickly diced....again with about 10 pulls on the handle.  (You can still see some residual onion at the top of the container.  It doesn't matter because I used a rubber spatula to remove it after I took the blade of the chopper out).

Green Peppers before....

Green Peppers after...again about 10 pulls on the handle.

I mixed the Clear Gel in a salad dressing cruet that I could shake quickly and pour into the mixture.

This is the end product.  With these changes in the the tomatoes I used and the chopper, I think I saved about 30-60 minutes in this process.  

As we learn and use new skills, it is just as important to 'tweak' what our process is.  Can we do it faster, better, more efficiently?  Because we are such busy people, it is important to not get caught in a rut and think about what we do.