Strawberry Jam

   Don’t you just love strawberries? I do. This is a picture I took of a few of the lovely jewels from the pick-it-yourself farm. Sweet. Vibrant. Little. Jewels. Delicious.

Mom was making freezer jam with most of these.  I wanted to make some that I could have……..

And I’m so glad I did.

      

The finished product. The lighting was a little weird on my camera, but anyways, the jam came out amazing. Never mind the fact that it’s gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, AND it doesn’t use honey/agave etc. Only a little fruit juice and stevia. That’s it, sweetie!

Plus, this jam is approved by my sister who thinks all my food is disgusting. Mom, is slightly less picky, liked it too.

 

 

Simply Sweet Strawberry Jam

• This recipe is for freezer jam but can be altered slightly for canned jam. :)

Ingredients:

• 5+ c. mashed strawberries
• 3 c. white grape raspberry 100% fruit juice (or 6 oz. concentrate and 18 oz water)
• 6 t. stevia
• 1 T. lemon juice
• 1 package of No/Low Sugar Added Pectin

Directions:

• Mash berries by hand one cup at a time. (It is easier to mash by hand about one cup at a time then all together.)
• Bring the juice to a boil. Add in pectin. Stir until dissolved. Remove the pan from the stove. Add in strawberries, lemon juice, and stevia. Stir well
• Pour into glass jars being sure to leave 1/2+ inch room at the top for expansion. Let cool for an hour+ on the counter or until cool enough to place in the fridge. 
• After about 24 hours, remove all but the jar(s) you are going to use for the near-future to the freezer.
• Take your “fridge jar” and enjoy it :) It’s great for….

                                

Bananas with Peanut Butter and Jam                               Dried Pineapple Dipped in Jam

 

                               

Strawberry Surprise Chicken (Recipe coming soon)         PB & J Energy Bites (recipe to come soon)

 

And, best of all, on a spoon! :)

Sugar-Free Strawberry-Rhubarb Freezer/Cooked Jam

(The last spoonful of jam…)

I know, I know, you'll are probably wondering why I am posting a strawberry-rhubarb jam recipe when it’s the middle of winter. Strawberries and rhubarb aren’t in season you say? I know….but they are (in a sense) for me because I had a bunch of leftover frozen rhubarb (which I cut up and froze when it was in season----and which I got for free! :)) and frozen strawberries (from the store…not as good as fresh but they’ll do) that I wanted to use up. So, if you aren’t ready yet to use this recipe, save it and store it in your archives for later use this summer. :) Or, substitute another berry or more strawberries for the rhubarb.

 

I have started making my own jam because it is much more frugal than sugar-free naturally sweetened jam at the grocery store. One tiny little bottle usually costs a couple of bucks and I figure I can make some for a much cheaper price at home and make much more of it too!

 

Ingredients:

4 c. strawberries (fresh or frozen, sliced)

4 c. rhubarb (fresh/frozen, sliced into small pieces)

1 c. honey

2 packages no sugar added pectin

 

Add all ingredients except pectin into a pan. Mash and cook until it is well-combined. Taste. Add more honey (I used a lot less than the original recipe called for but I think it’s sweet enough…you might want to add up to 1 and 2/3 c. more honey) to taste. Add pectin according to package directions. Pour into freezer containers or can according to package directions. Enjoy! :)