Sugar Free Jam

I love jam
I don't love the amount of sugar in it. In Hartley's Strawberry Jam there is 61g of sugar in 100g of Jam. Not to mention they add Gelling agent, Sodium Citrates and Glucose fructose syrup. That's less then 40% fruit in your fruit jam...
So for others who still want there sweet fruity jam but don't all that sugar, here is a sugar free jam that is more exiting then your bog standard strawberry.
The secret to thickening the fruit with out the gelling agent and sugar is chia seeds. This ancient seed dates back to Aztec times and they are full of the good stuff, Omega 3, dietary fiber, calcium, iron, protein, potassium not to mention loads of antioxidants. Seriously they are insanely good for you. The other awesome thing about chia seeds is that when they are submerged into a liquid they create a gel that thickens the liquid they are in. Boom we have an all natural, healthy gelling agent. Hozaaa jam time. 

Magical seeds

Mango, Apple, Pear and Ginger Chia Seed Jam,

Ingredients
Half a medium mango
1 pear
1 eating apple
1 tsp of minced ginger
1 lemon (un-waxed)
1 tbsp of Honey, or liquid sweetner (to taste)

1 tbsp of sweetener (to taste)
3 tbsp of water (ish)
2 tbsp of Chia Seeds

- Roughly dice mango, apple and pear and put in a medium heavy bottomed pan. Add ginger, honey and sweetener. Get your lemon and with a peeler, peal 3 strips of peal and add to pot. Slice open your lemon and add a tbsp of the juice.
- Add your 3 tbsp of water and turn the heat on. You may need to add less or more water depending on how juicy your fruit is.
 -Stir your fruit mixture over a medium heat until all the fruit has broken down.  Then remove from heat and take out the lemon peal. I didn't wait for it to cool before a blitzed it (cause i live my life on the edge) but if you don't like hot fruit puree in your eye leave to cool then blitz.
-Taste, this is your change to add more sweetener/ginger/acidity. Each jam at this stage will be slightly different as fruits vary in sweetness and acidity as they ripen so taste and change if need be.
-Place pureed mixture back on a low heat and had your chia seeds stir for about a minuet and remove from heat. Leave to cool and but in tubs. This mixture keeps for about 1/2 weeks in the fridge.

I put them in little tubs.. They're so cute, like little baby jams

Freshened Up Walnut, Apple and Celery Salad for Family BBQ

I used to LOVE apple celery and walnut salads that you could but in little pots. The combination of crunchy sweet acidic apple, savory celery and nutty walnuts is one of my all time favorite. However whenever you buy them they are drowned in creamy mayonnaise style dressing... ughhh.  Not only does this dressing often contain dairy or eggs, making it unfriendly for vegans and lactose intolerant, but full of saturated unhealthy fat and god knows what, sugar, preservatives, etc etc...

Fresher lighter better.

So when asked to make a salad for our Family's BBQ tonight I thought I would take this salad and make it vegan friendly and a lot more healthier and in my opinion fresher as its not drowned in creamy dressing. My version has sweet sour dressing with apple cider vinegar which is meant to curb sugar cravings and is sugar free as I use agave.

Freshened Up Walnut, Apple and Cerlery Salad

Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks of celery
1 small sweet onion
1 large Granny smith (you can use other eating apples but prepare for a lesser salad, granny smiths rule)
1/4 cup (heaped) of walnuts
Hand full of raisins
3 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp of agave syrup (or honey)
tsp of whole grain mustard
Salt and pepper

-Mix together 3 tbsp of the agave (reserving one tbsp), apple cider vinegar, mustard in the bottom of your salad bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. Your dressing should be slightly more salty and sour then you would like it as when as the water from the salad will neutralize it slightly.
- Dice apple, celery and onion and add to you dressing, toss so all the salad is coated. The vinegar in the dressing will stop the apples browning and partially cook the onion so it is less harsh.. clever ;)
-Lightly crush walnuts (I used a pestle and mortar) and add to a hot pan with a pinch of salt.

Me crushing some nuts

- When the nuts are lightly toasted add the reserved tbsp of agave stir around your pan for 30 seconds more and remove walnuts from heat into a bowl or plate to cool.
- Once cool add the walnuts with the raisins and toss. Cover and refrigerate till needed, the longer you leave this salad the more the flavors 'get to know each other' and the tastier it will be (like left over chilli and curry)