Raw homemade strawberry jam

As you know, I have three kids.  So I am not very extreme when it comes to dietary restrictions.  I'm not trendy either.  I believe in eating healthy whole foods 80% of the time, including everything, omitting nothing. I am fortunate because my children have no allergies and my husband and I have no sings of any intolerance so we don't have to cut anything down or out of our daily diet.

There are a few exceptions, obviously.  I have nothing "white" in my house.  This includes white pasta, white bread, and white, refined sugar. Occasionally I will buy things that have refined sugar in them-but this is very rare.  I try to stay away from packaged foods as much as possible but come ON.  You have to live too.

Let's talk jam. Peanut butter and jam. Jam thumb print cookies. Toast and jam. Jam is delicious.  You know why?  It's full of sugar.  Delicious refined white-from your lips to your hips in a bad way-sugar.  There is usually more sugar than actual fruit in typical jarred jam off the shelf.  And if you read some of the labels, it's GLUCOSE-FRUCTOSE which is really, really bad for you.  This stuff goes straight into your bloodstream, spikes your insulin levels and then just sits in your body making fat.  This is the sneaky stuff that puts on the pounds, one tablespoon at a time.  I know-you're thinking, come on, a tablespoon of jam?  But if you take out that tablespoon of sugar from your morning yogurt, jam, bread and juice...you've saved yourself a buttload of calories.  Seriously...a buttload.

ANYHOO-Problem solved!  I have a jam solution! (and for you crazies out that that don't want to cook any of your food, it's also RAW) This jam only has three ingredients.  Three.  And you can pronounce all of them.  It's wonderful.  Shelf life is pretty low (about the same as fresh strawberries), but it's so easy to make you can make it in weekly small batches.

Here there are:

Strawberries, about 1 cup.
Honey, 1 tablespoon (preferably raw, but you know...what you HAVE) or some other natural sweetener
Chia seeds, 1 tablespoon

Mind blown?

Some of you are probably thinking "Ch-ch-ch-chia seeds?"  And yes!  Those seeds.  Now, don't go out buying the Garfield Chia head. Chia seeds are becoming much more widely available and for good reason. These little seeds are like scrub brushes for your digestive system, cleaning up everything along the way to keep your insides all shiny and new. The reason is these little wonder seeds are SUPER absorbent.  Drop a teaspoon into a glass of water and watch how they gel up.  They do this for your insides as well (so keep that in mind and drink a lot of water when consumed on their own).  I have a teaspoon or two a day.

Now that you know the ingredients, I should probably tell you how to make this jam.  It's really complicated so pay attention.


Clean the berries and cut the stems off.
Put them in a blender (I use my magic bullet).
Add a tablespoon of honey, or more-depending on the sweetness of the berries.
Add a tablespoon of chia seeds.
Blend.
Leave it in the fridge to set up overnight and enjoy with your toast the following morning.

TADA!

Amazing, right?  This jam tastes so fresh and wonderful-I know you'll like it.  And no refined sugar or junk in there.  It'll last the week (if you don't eat it all in a day) and then you can make some more! YUM!

I've gotten wicked reviews at home from this jam-my kids were SILENT.  And there was nothing left on their plates.  Best review ever.  Have a happy day!