Strawberry Chia Jam

Mmm, delicious sweet strawberries.

Strawberries for me.

There's nothing like local fresh fruit from your farmers market in the summer time. I have oodles of strawberries from my latest visit this Saturday. It's just too easy to buy more than you need when they're such a good price and they're so juicy and fresh! I'm saddened though that there are no local cherries this year, because the crops were ruined by the weather we had in the spring. I will still justify the splurge to buy them even though they are 6.99 lb. :o being imported from the US.

I suppose I over compensated the lack of cherries (my favourite fruit) with more strawberries during this past Saturday visit to the market. That's okay though because nothing beats biting into a fresh strawberry.

Check out this monster looking one!

I recently learned a trick to keep them they're freshest for longer. If you store them unwashed in a glass container with a tight fitting lid in the fridge they will keep slightly longer than if you were to store them uncovered. Then just wash and cut them as you need them. It works for any kind of berry too.

However, if you buy way more than you can eat in a week like I did, and you don't like wasting perfectly good strawberries...you MAKE JAM! Not just any jam, pure strawberry maple jam made with local maple syrup, strawberries and ...chia seeds!

This powerful little seed is praised for its health benefits and being an excellent source of omega 3 essential fatty acids. They're benefits are similar to flax seeds, but multiplied x10, and are a great way to lower cholesterol as they hold 9 times their weight in water, and have both soluble & insoluble fiber. The soluble kind will absorb water and can help reduce the absorption of cholesterol into your blood stream.

I usually have them stirred into my oatmeal nearly every morning.

I've seen this method of jam making on blogs before and so I decided to give it a go and make my own version. It was so simple to make! I think I will put a spoonful of this jam on my oats tomorrow morning instead of stirring in chia seeds.

Strawberry Chia Jam

Ingredients:

• 1 cup strawberries
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 2.5 tbsp pure maple syrup 

Method:

1. Rinse and dry your berries, then slice them over a bowl.
2. Mash them with a fork or potato masher.
3. Mix in the chia seeds first and stir well to incorporate them. Then stir in the maple syrup.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or transfer to a mason jar and place in the fridge to let it set and thicken for at least 30 mins before you use. 

This will last for at least a week.

Perfect for toast, topping oatmeal or pancakes with, peanut butter and jam sandwiches, or even spread on top of warm scones!

Pair it with some natural nut butter spread on whole grain ryvita crackers or melba toast and you've got a great mid-afternoon snack. It would be great with some greek yogurt and granola too.

Have you ever tried making chia jam before?

Molasses Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Apricots

Sore Muscles are no fun!

Eating chicken every day of the week is also no fun.

If you lift weights/train or are like most families then its probably something you eat a lot of.

So to break out of the everyday mundane chicken for dinner rut, I've got a pork tenderloin recipe for you. It's got sweet nutrient-dense blackstrap molasses, apple cider vinegar, ginger and orange juice.

We all know the importance of recovering and replenishing your muscles after a hard work out to help them rebuild and restore themselves. The time frame in which you eat something is also important. But did you know that gram for gram, pork tenderloin is actually slightly lower in fat than chicken breast? It's also lower in cholesterol. Three ounces of extra lean pork tenderloin has 62mg of cholesterol versus 3 ounces of chicken breast, which has 73mg.

Blackstrap molasses is also extremely good for you. Just check out these stats! To name a few of the minerals it has, it's rich in calcium, iron and manganese. Just 2 tsp of the stuff provides you with 11.8% of your daily calcium intake. Not too shabby. Make sure to get unsulphured molasses because it retains the most vitamins and minerals. It is the purest form that hasn't been treated with sulphites (one of the nine most common food additives that can cause allergic reactions). . .That being said, now you have something other than ginger cookies to use it in!

Molasses Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Apricots

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. lean pork tenderloin, trimmed of excess fat
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tbsp unsulfured blackstrap molasses
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minces
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400*.
2. Whisk together orange juice, molasses, cider vinegar, ginger, and garlic and then add the apricots.
3. Season tenderloin to your liking with salt and pepper. Add a small glug of olive oil to a frying pan on medium-high heat. Once heated add the pork tenderloin. After searing one side for about 1-2 minutes flip and continue until all sides are seared. Once the meat starts to turn colour, it browns quickly, so pay attention!
4. After browning the meat you now need to cook it through. Place it in a baking dish with the orange juice mixture and roast for 45 minutes in total, turning the tenderloins over 30 minutes through to get the top sides into the juice.
5. Test with a meat thermometer to make sure its done. It should read at least 170*, when its no longer pink.
6. Take the pork out of the baking dish and wrap in foil to let the meat rest for 10 minutes or so before you slice it. This will let the meat reabsorb its juices making it very tender, juicy and flavourful. Serve with sauce.

This is what it should look like after searing:

It's time to replenish!