My Jam Makes Your Jam Seem Lame

Gadzooks! What is that nuclear-bright red substance in the jar?

 

Why, that would be my homemade jam!

(yes, my food photography skills leave much room for improvement.)

 

 

Aldi had strawberried for 99c/lb and they were goooood. So of course, I grabbed way more than I could eat before they spoiled and determined to make jam. When I looked at pectin, I was shocked at how expensive it is. Also, I wanted to use truvia instead of sugar because I got a ton for free a while back and I want to use it up and most recipes need sugar for the pectin to gel. There is pectin meant for sugar-free recipes, but it was even MORE expensive, so I was like "screw that". Then I stumbled upon an idea- what about using gelatin? I had a few envelopes of unflavored gelatin (a box of 4 costs like $1.50), so I set about searching recipes. My ultimate recipe went as follows:

 

Sugar-Free (Truvia ) Strawberry Freezer Jam

1/4 cup lemon juice

dash of salt

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1 envelope gelatin

1 lb 4 oz strawberries (enough to make 2 cups when finely diced and squished tight)

18 packets truvia (5 TBSP+1/2 tsp, the equivalent of 3/4 cup sugar)

 

Boil lemon juice, throroughly stir in salt, cornstarch and gelatin. Add strawberries and let them get all mushy. Bring to a boil; boil 3 mins. Remove from heat, stir in truvia, let cool to room temperature, then pour into desired container and let set in the fridge. Move to freezer or devour immediately.

 

It's soooo good. Even Natalie loved it- she opened up her PBJ and licked all the jam off and then asked for more!

 

Natalie loves to color lately. She is always pointing towards the bar where we keep her crayons and asking "doh doh" (color). Unfortunately, she was really interested in coloring on the table instead of her book. Since our tabletop is glass, a little scrubbing bubbles all purpose cleaner got it right off, but then I was caught in the dilemma of not wanting to inhibit her creative urges but not wanting her to believe that it is okay to color on any surface she wants. I doubt the walls will clean off so easily!

So, Art Teacher Sarah came up with a good compromise and now half of our table has paper grocery bags taped over it.

 

Natalie is pretty assertive about informing me when she wants to leave the house. She will bring me her shoes or jacket, or sometimes just stand at the front door and pound on it. It's a little awkward, sometimes she decides it's time to leave when we really have nowhere to go!