Homemade Jam - Less Sugar

So I found this recipe for making QUICK strawberry jam. This is jam that does not involve the complicated canning procedures of sterilizing jars and such but there is a catch. It only lasts about 9 days in the fridge, you can't keep in the pantry for an extended length of time like regular jam.

So because I am on the GI diet and always looking for ways of cutting back my sugar intake I have been playing around with this recipe a bit. I basically cut the amount of sugar in half to see if it would still taste good and still gel together like a jam should. And I am happy to report that yes it still worked out and yes it still tasted good.

I also experimented by using different types of berries. One week I just happened to have some blueberries and blackberries left over so I popped them in with the strawberries and came up with a yummy three berry jam.

If you are a fan of Splenda I am sure you could use that as a sugar substitute but as I mentioned in the past I prefer to use less sugar then play around with sugar substitutes.

Blueberry Beef Burger served at my annual Canada Day party

I should have taken a picture of everyone enjoying the blueberry beef burgers I served at our annual Canada Day party this year but as hostess I was far to busy running around to think of such things. I didn't even get a shot of the my husband at the barbecue grilling up all 25 burgers I made to serve to our guests.

The good news is everybody seemed to like them, in fact I received several favorable comments and requests for the recipe. So just in case you think my taste buds are off and I am making up stuff about how delicious all of these GI Diet recipes are you now have another opinion. That of the 25 guests who ate them. I actually liked them better the second time around and am upgrading my rating from 7 to 8.5.

To see my original post on the burgers click here.

Blueberry Beef Burger

Don't be put off by the slightly purplish colour of these burgers. Once they are cooked nobody will even be able to tell that they once looked so strange. This is another one of those recipes I just had to try because of the strange mix of ingredients...blueberries, ground flax and oatmeal to name a few. The end result was a pretty decent tasting burger. In fact for extra lean ground beef these burgers came out super moist. This recipe makes 4 hearty sized patties. My husband liked them and said he would definitely eat them again. We enjoyed our first barbeque of the season and took advantage of the nice weather and ate out on the porch.

SERVED WITH: Asparagus and a side salad topped with beans and corn. Just make note that corn is a yellow light item from the GI Diet.

COOKING TIPS: Don't wear white when working with the blueberries. It is also a little tricky to tell if the burgers are done until you become familiar with what ground blueberries look like in your meat. About 4 to 5 minutes per side on the barbeque should just about do it.

RATING: 7. I was pleased but not blown away. A decent tasting burger considering the recipe called for extra lean ground beef.

Strawberry Tea Bread - Sub in Blueberries

I actually made these muffins by accident. I was making a batch of banana bread but unknowingly looking at the wrong recipe the whole time. It wasn't until near the end of the recipe that I thought to myself "That's weird, when am I supposed to add the bananas?" That was when I discovered I was looking at the wrong page. So I ended up making these as well as the banana bread.

COOKING TIPS: I made strawberry tea bread last week and didn't enjoy the texture of the strawberries so I subbed in some blueberries instead. I was pleased with the end result but still prefer eating blueberry rock cakes.

RATING: 8.