One of my fondest memories of childhood is making strawberry jam with my mom.

When I was young, we lived in a very beautiful part of Ontario called Prince Edward County. One of the greatest things about ‘the County’, as it’s fondly referred to by the locals, is the abundance of agriculture in the area – apple orchards, strawberry fields, vineyards, farmer’s markets, cheese factories and other local artisans are everywhere you look.

When we were kids, my mom used to take us to the local strawberry fields where we would pick bucket after bucket of the beautiful little ruby red fruits, popping a few into my mouth when my mom wasn’t watching – sorry mom! Afterwards came my favourite part: my mom would make huge batches of strawberry jam that we would then jar and store in our pantry to enjoy for the rest of the year.

Now, I know I may be a little biased, but my mom’s jam is the best jam I have ever had! We would put it on everything – toast, ice cream, muffins, straight out of the jar on a spoon – basically anything we could, just to get it in our tummies. It was such a treat and was a great family tradition that I have really come to cherish now as an adult.

So you can only imagine my surprise as I was making this incredibly easy Strawberry Chia Seed Jam, tried my first spoonful and was instantly reminded of my mom’s jam. It’s always a great feeling when you can replicate a flavour from your childhood and it’s just as delicious as you remember it to be.

While my mom may have spent hours making batches of her famous jam, this Strawberry Chia Seed Jam comes together in less than 20 minutes, including chopping time!

My secret? A blender!

Basically, once your strawberries are destemmed and chopped in half, you toss them all into a blender with some water, maple syrup (optional) and chia seeds. Everything gets blended until you achieve your preferred jam consistency. Once blended, pour the contents of your blender into a small saucepan and cook as per the instructions below.

See? It’s called Super Easy Sunday for a reason 😉

This was my first time making chia seed jam and I honestly don’t know why I waited so long to ever try it! The chia seeds in this recipe help to create the jelly-like consistency of the jam, all while adding extra protein, fibre and omega-3 fatty acids. Who knew jam could be so healthy? And, since the strawberries are so naturally sweet on their own, you really don’t even need to add any sort of sweetener to this jam. I did end up sweetening mine with a touch of maple syrup but next time I’ll probably just omit it and let the wonderful natural sweetness of the fruit shine through.

Since this jam is free of preservatives, it’s best to eat it up within a week of making it. We’ve stored ours in the mason jar you see in these pictures and used it for all sorts of things – pb & j sandwiches, topping some amazing double chocolate scones, slathered onto cornbread and, just like as a kid, even straight out of the jar!

What’s your favourite kind of jam to keep stocked up at home? We love keeping both raspberry and apricot jelly in our fridge at all times. What’s your favourite thing to add jam to?

As always, we hope you love this Strawberry Chia Seed Jam as much as we do. Give it a whirl and post your pictures to Instagram, Facebook and Google+ with the hashtag #glutenfreeveganpantry.

Lots of love & happy eats,

Savanna

