Recipe: blackberry chia jam

I am a big fan of jam. Homemade jam to be exact. My mom set a high bar in life to always keep a freezer full of jam. I was actually at my sister's house once and she offered me jam, and I got mad, saying, "why did mom send you jam and not me?" (We both live on the west coast - no where near where the jam lady (i.e. our mom) lives. To which she replied, "I made it!" And then I said, "you can do that?!" Nothing like opening up a (at the time) 29 year old's eyes that being a grown up means that I could actual make my own jam.

Mind blown.

I made 2 batches (not pictured) of strawberry jam earlier this spring, but we are going through our stock like rather quickly. (I blame my newest obsession of flavoring my plain yogurt with jam, it just tastes so much better than the yoplait strawberry - nothing against yoplait, we still keep them in business as Mike only prefers their strawberry yogurt.) Anyway, I like to flavor plain yogurt with a spoonful of jam and then top with homemade granola. I probably have this at least once a day either for breakfast or as my lunch with a few veggies and dip. So now you can now understand how quickly I could be tearing through my jam. 

I found a Pinterest recipe that I thought looked easy (check out my Jam & Bread pinterest board - it appears I am a virtual hoarder of jam recipes) and gave me the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone - homemade jam AND including more chia seeds into my diet (chia seeds are also in my granola) I am a big fan of their omega 3 power punch and I also sing the Chia pet theme song every time I access the seeds in the pantry (added bonus: Ch-ch-ch-chia! 🎶) 

The chia blackberry jam is quite easy to make.  The consistency was a bit different (picture Nickelodeon Floam) and it's not sweet. It adds a bit of flavor to my plain yogurt but not too much.  It's not that I'm missing a bit more sugar in my yogurt, however it is different than the homemade strawberry jam.  Next time I think I might use strawberries, maybe it was the blackberries that lacked sweetness.  I'm glad I made it, however I'm not sure that it will ever be included in a pb&j sandwich.  

Here's the recipe that I used:

Ingredients
1 cup blackberries
1/2 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup honey
3 Tbs lemon juice

Directions
Mash berries
Mix in all ingredients
Cover in plastic and set in refrigerator at least 30 minutes.

jam

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have become an adult.  I know that you thought that was the case when I actually made a pie without having a tantrum.  And that was no small task for this girl.  But I just did something that I thought only my mom could do (although, Mom you still do it so much better).

I.
Made.
Jam.
Really.
Real jam that you can spread on toast.
Real homemade jam that I grew up with and didn't know that other people actually went to the store to buy their jam.
Real jam that when I went to my sister's house in Portland and she had homemade jam, I asked, why did mom send you jam and not me?

To which she replied.
I made the jam,
idiot (the idiot part was implied in only the way a big sister can).
Clearly, it's taken me 31 and 3/4 years to figure out that I can make jam.  And I'm totally hooked.  What's in season in the summer? Blackberries? Raspberries?  Doesn't matter to me, I'll be at the farmer's market buying more fruit to make jam after our 8 jars of strawberry freezer jam run out. 
I am hooked.  I made it last night. Mike and I tried a bit on toast.  He woke up this morning and asked if he can have more toast and jam.  And he did.
And then I called my mom to tell her that I'm a big girl.