Living in Ontario Canada means we have 4 really distinct seasons (no – it’s not all winter). These four seasons mean that each one has its own fresh ‘newness’ to it. We take nothing for granted. Ok – winter does seem to drag on each year – but that leads to the excitement over the first flower that pokes through the icy ground.
One of the things that I love about the seasons is the harvest season – our tomatoes, berries, peaches, apples. Freestone peaches are always associated with the end of summer – my Birthday (my mom always makes me a peach pie instead of a birthday cake – my FAVE!!!!!).
Years ago I wanted to jam Ontario berries. To my horror the recipe had probably equal parts sugar to fruit – I was shocked. It changed the way I looked at jam forever and it stopped at the one year.
Fast forward almost 20 years, a degree in Holistic Nutrition and my love of all things homemade – I’ve decided to give it all another try – believing that there had to be a better way. As my research had uncovered – the reason for all that sugar was to preserve the fruit. OK – great – but I still won’t really put in the effort to convert the delicious sweetness from nature into almost ‘junk’ food. In comes CHIA and HONEY. Two of my kitchen powerhouses. CHIA – full of good fats and fibre – has the added benefit of congealing to make the familiar jam consistency. HONEY – a little added sweetness (only 1 TBSP per jar) – using raw unpasteurized honey adds the benefits of these gifts from our little striped furry friends. Raw honey provides B and C vitamins and digestive benefits – a total winner over processed white sugar!
The other big surprise of this kitchen experiment is how little time it took – probably about 30 minutes from start to finish (for the berry jam – peach a little longer as you need to peel and cut the fruit).
The verdict – more more more! Using the low sugar berries with the high fibre chia seeds and only a little added honey this is almost free food. So I’ve done the calculation per 1 Tbsp. serving – only 13 calories, 0.4g fat, 2.5g carb, 0.5g fibre and about 0.4g protein. Compared to a commercial strawberry jam which packs 50 calories for the same serving size and 13g carbohydrate and 0g fibre. WOW…
This is no longer a cheat but a healthy really pretty addition to your diet. You can use this on toast, mixed with plain yogurt or just with a spoon!
Ingredients
Servings 16
- 2 cups berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries or mixed)
- 4 Tbsp. Chia seeds
- 2 Tbsp. raw unpasteurized Honey
- 1-2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice