Berry Jam-No Sugar Recipe, My Kitchen Garden & Healthy Tips - WFPB

It is very easy to make your own WFPB berry jam and you may be surprised by the flavor and texture of this recipe. Making homemade jam eliminates the processed sugars, commercial pectin, and other unhealthy ingredients generally found in store-bought jams.

Tending to my elevated bed kitchen garden in my yard.

It’s Friday which means my post is all about living the best life I can and sharing what I have learned with you and also learning from you in the comments you leave.

So… anybody reading this post, even if you don’t comment, you should read the comments as there are some great ideas and tips from other readers in them.

I am sharing a few things in this post – an update about our kitchen garden that I am attending to in the photo above. A recipe I make all the time, and what I have learned about using salt in recipes.

1. How Is The Kitchen Garden Coming?

Kitchen Garden in yard with elevated beds.

Since my last post about the kitchen garden, we added 4 arches to the climbing veggies we planted in the elevated garden beds.

We added netting over the arches and secured it with zip-ties. The tomatoes in the whiskey barrels are just getting high enough to begin to attach to it.

Lettuce and red cabbage growing in elevated beds in kitchen garden.

So far so good on how things are growing. The seedlings are popping up and the potted vegetables we bought that had a head start are doing well.

2. My Favorite Comfort Food

When I started eating a WFPB diet with no oil, I knew I could do it because I could still enjoy tea with jam and bread. Just like the lyrics in the song, Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music…. Tea with jam and bread is my favorite comfort food – actually toast, but you get the idea.

I knew that I wouldn’t stick to a WFPB way of eating if I chose to think of it as a restrictive and temporary diet. Instead, I thought of it as a way of living and eating to promote good health and well-being which included whole grain bread and fruit.

To have my jam and bread, I make my own whole-wheat sourdough bread and when I don’t have that made, I reach for a slice of Ezekiel 4:9® Sesame Sprouted Whole Grain Bread.

Here are the two recipes I use to make sourdough bread. I prefer the second one more now as I like the added crunch of the added wheat berries. I made both of these using using Sprouted Whole Wheat flour I buy at Whole Foods.

Sourdough Bread – Basic sourdough making tutorial and recipe.
Sprouted Sourdough Bread with Wheat Berries

I spread my toasted bread with a spoonful of berry jam that I make that has no sugar in it, only fruit.

There are quite a few no-sugar added berry jam recipes on the internet. The reason – it is so good and easy to make… and better for you. :-) Each recipe may have different amounts of berries and ingredients, but this is what makes the jam so easy to make – you can add more berries, add dates or maple syrup or leave them out.

I usually use blueberries or blackberries or combine them when making this no sugar jam recipe, but yesterday when I was out and about, I stopped at a roadside stand selling strawberries.

Box of fresh picked strawberries on cutting board with knife.

I bought a whole box and decided when I got home to use some to make sugar-free strawberry jam.

toast with homemade no sugar jam on a plate.

Hot tea with jam and bread is one of my food options that I have for an afternoon snack. This recipe makes it something I don’t have to feel guilty about eating.

What is your favorite comfort food or the food that would be hard to have to give up or eliminate from your diet?

Berry Jam Recipe – All Natural with No Added Sugar or Fake Sweetener

When making berry jam, the longer you let it simmer the smoother it will get. Blueberries and blackberries boil into a smoother texture then strawberries do.

You also have the option to add a sweetener if you want. I don’t, as I find if the berries are ripe, they add all the sweetness I need. I did include the option in the recipe below of adding maple syrup or date paste to the jam.

Whole Food Plant Based – No Sugar Berry Jam

This recipe can be made with any kind of berry. When eating a WFPB diet and trying not to use oil, sugar or salt in your cooking. Perfect for a Vegan or on a WFPB diet when trying not to use oil, sugar or salt in your cooking, but still wanting the sweet taste of berry jam on a piece of whole wheat or sourdough bread toast. It is very easy to make and only uses 3 ingredients. This recipe makes about 6 ounces of jam. It may be less depending on how long the berries simmer. Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time10 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, SnackCuisine: AmericanKeyword: berries,, jam, No sugar, WFPB

Ingredients

2 cups fresh or frozen berries if using frozen, thaw first
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 teaspoon lemon juice or lemon zest
1 – 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or date paste optional

Instructions

Pour the berries and if using maple syrup or date paste into a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the lemon juice or zest. Bring the mixture to a simmer, pressing the berries with a fork or potato masher to help break them down.
Let the mixture simmer together for about 10 minutes until the fruit is totally broken down. Stir frequently while the mixture comes to a boil and starts to thicken slightly.
Remove from heat, then stir in chia seeds.
Pour the chia seed jam into an airtight glass jar, and let the jam chill in the fridge until thickened, at least 4 hours.

Notes

Keep jam covered. Will keep in refrigerator for up to 5 days.

3. Healthy Eating Tips: All About Salt

For these Friday WFPB posts, I thought I would include a tips and tricks section about what I have learned about eating the Whole Food Plant Based, no oil, sugar or salt diet, which is a lot since I have been reading many WFPB cookbooks and websites to learn as much as I could over the past year.

One thing I learned is just how much salt is in the foods we eat and that is called for in recipes. The healthy living guides say we should have no more than 2,300 mg per day—that’s equal to about 1 teaspoon of salt.

I found the list and chart below helpful when it comes to adding salt to what I make. I usually leave it out, but do add a tiny bit of sea salt or miso to a few recipes.

Sea Salt: 1 teaspoon, 2,360 mg sodium

Low-sodium tamari, 1 teaspoon: 700 mg sodium

Braggs Liquid Aminos, 1 teaspoon: 233 mg sodium

White Miso, 1 teaspoon: 115-150 mg sodium – depending on the brand

You can also check for sodium claims on food and beverage labels to quickly identify those that may contain less sodium. Here’s a guide to common claims and what they mean:

What It Says	What It Means
Salt/Sodium-Free	Less than 5 mg of sodium per serving
Very Low Sodium	35 mg of sodium or less per serving
Low Sodium	140 mg of sodium or less per serving
Reduced Sodium	At least 25% less sodium than the regular product
Light in Sodium or Lightly Salted	At least 50% less sodium than the regular product
No-Salt-Added or Unsalted	No salt is added during processing – but these products may not be salt/sodium-free unless stated