Homemade jam recipes for kids!
I can hear almost hear you say, "Oh, this Yamuna has come up with yet another HOME MADE item!"
Yes friends, while this is true, you need to understand one thing - I am completely MADDDD about HOME MADE products.
That is the reason why I am going to share 2 easy homemade jam recipes! So if you are looking for an easy homemade jam without pectin, then these recipes will help!
I become very happy when someone says "at home, we have started avoiding store bought and processed food items." I consider that as a good day! A day, when yet another parent, has decided to reduce the number of chemicals that go into the body.
I know that I am a very strict mother to my daughter. There are days when she returns home from school after having attended a friend's birthday celebration. Her teacher would have neatly packed a big chocolate and a cute return gift.
Now the fight starts as I usually allow her to complete only half the chocolate. But then she will demand for the other half which I refuse.
At times she wins and demands for another one from the fridge. So I visited her school and requested to stop sending chocolates home. Cutting the cake and having a small piece is ok and if parents are interested kindly give healthy sweets made with jaggery or honey. They happily accepted my request.
I don't encourage jams when it is from a store shelf. They could be a fruit or very popular mixed fruit jam. A jam is completely unhealthy when they are loaded with preservatives and chemicals.
I have heard from many parents that at least with jam, he/she will complete one chapathi. But it is not good for them at all (I know my words or very harsh but it is true).
Don't just think about your kids' present. I urge you all to think about his future health as well and be strict about your food habits.
I am requesting all the parents to try to learn and prepare homemade foods at home. Just half an hour on weekends is enough to prepare a homemade jam at home for your family.
Encourage your kids to participate in cooking so that they will have some interest to eat them too. Go for store bought foods and snacks only when you are really in very hectic situation like unexpected travel.
Today I bring you two simple and healthy homemade jam recipes for kids and both are made from very popular fruits.
They are:
My daughter always tells her snacks time stories once she is back home from school (but no news about her first half of her class because that is teaching time😄😄)
She tells me daily, that at least one of her friends had jam with bread or jam with dosa. There are even kids who bring jam every day. So jam will has 100 % attendance😂😂 by the end of the year.
I thought she is also ready to have jam but didn't want to start with store-bought ones. So I tried these two jams at home.
To be frank, this is my first try at preparing jam at home.
I have made pineapple jam with sugar and strawberry jam with jaggery.
Advantages of homemade jam
Consuming jam prepared at home has so many advantages, let's check one by one.
#1. Hygiene: When I eat food from outside, the first thing that comes to my mind is the hygiene. If you prepare your own jam at home, then you don't have to worry about that aspect. You prepare it with washed vessels and you prepare carefully.
I know what you may be thinking - what about jams made by reputed brands? Well, to that I would say, when it comes to my kids, seeing is believing.
#2. Fresh fruits: I remember my college days when my classmates use to tease our gang for consuming fresh fruit juice from our canteen. I came to know the reason a bit late - the 'fresh fruit' juices were being prepared from spoiled fruits!
That put me off juices for a while. And that's another reason why I prefer homemade products.
Coming back to the topic, when you prepare jam home at home there are no doubts or worries because you know about the quality of fruit used.
In fact, before preparing, I read a few articles that said that the jam will taste heavenly when it is prepared with ripe or over ripe fruits. I am yet to try jam with over ripe fruit.
#3. Storage: You need not worry when you transfer your cooled jam to a glass container and store it in the fridge, for it will not get spoiled for two weeks. So it is also better to prepare small batches at a time.
#4. No preservatives and colours: This was the main reason I am rooting for homemade jam. No chemicals and food colours have been added to these homemade jams.
Kindly avoid food colours. Do learn to like the food as it is and love natural colours too.
Talk to your kids about why foods with artificial colours are unhealthy. Kids learn from us. For eg: when you say, "wow it is light in colour", kids will say the same. But when you say, "Oh, the colour is so dull", then that will make your kid think that food that isn't bright in colour is not attractive.
#5. Preparation time: Preparing jam will take less time than travelling to the supermarket. Just 20-30 minutes is more than enough to prepare jam at home.
Again as I mentioned before, always prepare in small quantity and consume. Store this jam in a glass container and finish it off in two weeks.
#6. Suitability: Homemade jam can be consumed by babies' from 10 months onwards (if made with jaggery), because to me jam is a bit like western halwa without ghee.
Jam can be consumed with bread, dosa, idli, chapathi, and poories too. Don't give jam alone as a side dish, do let your child try your curry or chutney too. They will be happy to see so many varieties of side dishes.
As I mentioned before I will be sharing how to prepare pineapple jam and also tell you how to make strawberry jam without sugar!
So let us check out the recipes:
#1. Pineapple jam recipe
One of my favorite fruits, I love the smell of pineapple. This yummy golden fruit is loaded with good amount of vitamins and minerals. Pineapples are rich in vitamin C and thus helps to fight cough and cold. Pineapple also helps for the good bone health, eye sight and strong teeth and gums too. It has the power to fight against bad cholesterol and cancer.
This super fruit will also help to boost your kid's immunity too.
So when it is tasty and healthy, why don't you try this super healthy pineapple jam at home?
Ingredients- Pineapple - chopped 1 cup
- Sugar - 1 cup (adjust according to your taste)
- Lemon juice - 1 tsp
#1. Peel and chop pineapple into cubes.
#2. In a blender, puree the pineapple to fine paste.
#3. Heat the pan pour the fruit puree add the sugar and mix well.
#4. Mix well in intervals and cook slowly on a medium flame until the sugar gets dissolved.
#5. Wait till it become little thick.
#6. Switch off the flame and add the lemon juice and mix well.
#7. Allow it to cool down completely.
#8. Transfer it to a dry clean jar.
Enjoy your home made pineapple jam!
Note: Always use clean dry spoon for your jam. Close properly and store in the fridge.
2. Quick strawberry jam recipeAfter the success of the pineapple jam, I decided to try another jam for my daughter. We had some strawberries at home, so I thought of turning them into a jam with jaggery.
This can be prepared very easily and doesn't take much work. Just chop or puree the fruits, mix with powdered jaggery and cook until it becomes the right consistency.
So let us check out how make pectin free strawberry jam at home.
Ingredients- Strawberry - chopped 1 cup
- Jaggery - 1 cup (adjust according to your taste)
- Cinnamon - one small stick
#1. Keep the ingredients ready. In a blender, puree the strawberry with cinnamon.
#2. Heat the pan, add the puree of strawberry and add the jaggery. Mix well.
#3. Keep the flame low, so that you don't burn the puree.
#4. Mix well at intervals.
#5. Keep on stirring at intervals until the jam mixture reduces.
#6. When the mixture leaving sides of the pan then your jam is ready.
#7. Allow it to cool down completely.
#8. Transfer it to a dry clean jar.
Your jam is ready!
Note: I have added jaggery, but you can try making it with sugar too. I don't prefer the tangy taste so if you are interested, you can add some lemon juice.
Adding cinnamon is your personal preference. I am a die-hard fan of that spice so I have added that.
You can also try other spices like elaichi, vanilla etc.
Here are some of the healthy homemade recipes that you can try out at home:
Parents, let's change this era to a homemade and healthy eating era.
Go for store bought jam only when you are really running out of time or have no other options. The jam from store doesn't know your family tastes and preferences. You will start compromising according to the taste of what you bought.
And another main point, who knows if it is really made from real fruit?
Are we really sure about the freshness of the fruit they have added. Remember my story of consuming 'fresh juice' from collage canteen?
This is not only for jam but even for podis or dips. These can be prepared and stored. When you have free time, try to prepare your jams, podis or dips. These are very handy when you are running out of time at morning.
So moms, do try out these homemade jam recipes for kids and let me how your family liked it!
