Friday, May 17, 2013

Stevia Freezer Jam


This post is completely off-topic for this blog, but I couldn't keep from sharing this wonderful low-carb recipe for freezer jam which my mom and I discovered today. I recently bought the book "Trim Healthy Mama" by Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett at the recommendation of a friend. To read a detailed review of this book, I suggest reading Gwen's review of it. Trim Healthy Mama (aka THM) is packed to the brim with valuable, life-changing information. Seriously, this book is worth its weight in gold (and it's heavy!) Essentially, the most important fact is summed up in one sentence:

"Never include large amounts of both fats and carbs in the same meal unless you are trying to gain or maintain weight." - Trim Healthy Mama, page 64

But like I said, read Gwen's review to learn more. I'm just here to give you my recipe for delicious low-carb freezer jam made with stevia. I didn't find much to go by online, except for this post at Fragile Fantasies which involves cooking the fruit for a few minutes, something we were trying to avoid. We wanted our strawberries as fresh as possible-- plus, some stevia is known for developing that bitter after-taste during cooking. We didn't want to take that chance. So, instead of using Ball's special low-sugar pectin, we just used the regular ol' instant pectin.
But anyway, let's jump right in!


For five 8 oz jars of jam, you're going to need:

Wash, hull, and dice the strawberries into a large bowl (we tripled the recipe to make a large batch).



Use a potato masher (we're using the nifty little Pampered Chef "Mix 'N Chop" tool) to mash the strawberries down to your desired consistency. Add the packet of Instant Fruit Pectin and as much or as little stevia as you would like. We used one teaspoon of SweetLeaf liquid stevia per 4 cups. You could use Truvia or any other powdered stevia, but you're on your own for those measurements. Just go slow, taste it, and add more as needed.



Now give your arms a bit of a work out and stir, stir, stir that jam for 3 minutes. It should thicken up as you're stirring, but it won't set fully until 30 minutes later. Fill your jars (you don't have to wait for it to set), and voila-- delicious, yummy strawberry jam without any guilt at all!

This will keep 3 months in the fridge, 1 year in the freezer!

You could pair this with a bowl of 0% Greek yogurt for a refreshing FP (Fuel Pull) snack if you are on the THM plan.


 Or a slice of warm, toasted Ezekiel bread with Greek yogurt or low-fat cottage cheese topped with sweet strawberry goodness for an E breakfast. One of life's best things. Seriously.




12 comments:

  1. I can't wait to do this! :) We used to always make jam until we needed to start using no-sugar-added jam from the store, but it's so expensive! Wow. I've always wanted to make no-sugar jam and am excited that I'll save so much money!

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  2. Thank you so much! Our strawberries won't be ready for another month, but with this recipe, I'll be ready!

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  3. wonder what other fruits that can be used??? But the Strawberry kind won't last that long in my house!

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  4. Hi, I have been looking and looking for a freezer strawberry jam recipe that uses stevia. I am thrilled to find this recipe. I am hoping to make a bunch this Saturday. I am wondering what size the packets of pectin are, or what teaspoon/tablespoon equivalent is. I can get the instant at a little bulk food store here, but it is in bulk containers. Thank you so much!
    -Sherilyn Miller

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  5. I can't wait to make this...with my nifty Pampered Chef mix and chop tool! :)

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  6. Is there a way to translate this recipe into using raspberries in place of strawberries?

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  7. you should be able to use "4 cups" of whatever berry you choose!

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  8. so you don't have to cook this. can you freeze it in freezer bags to save on freezer space?

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  9. There is really no stevia in truvia... an RD wrote a blog about it and it appears to be true. You are just getting a lot of sugar alcohol and is it GMO? Also strawberries are probably the most sprayed fruit according to the Dirty Dozen... if possible use organic or home grown. From farmer's market vendor who dosent spray. The stevia you used is an extract and highly processed. You can get natural green stevia powder and try working with it. If you are going to go low carb and low sugar, might as well do it healthy!

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  10. Nearly 3 years later, I come across this. I was wondering about it. I grow my own Stevia, and have green Stevia powder from last year's harvest, but I am getting ready to cook up my first batch of drops tomorrow, so rather than have a greenish hue to my beautiful red strawberries, I will probably use my drops.

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  11. Nearly 3 years later, I come across this. I was wondering about it. I grow my own Stevia, and have green Stevia powder from last year's harvest, but I am getting ready to cook up my first batch of drops tomorrow, so rather than have a greenish hue to my beautiful red strawberries, I will probably use my drops.

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