Carrot Cake (sweetened with crushed pineapple and juice)

Dear David's birthday, his first, and I wanted to make something special and healthy. I found this recipe on Cooks.com, but the original recipe called for 6 tablespoons of sugar. I wanted something totally sugar free for my baby and only sweetened with fruit juice concentrate, so I just cut the sugar and added more crushed pineapple and unsweetened pineapple juice concentrate. The recipe turned out great and even my mother was asking for the recipe and my father-in-law enjoyed it, too!

Ingredients:

1 c. all-purpose flour 

3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. olive oil 

2 eggs
1/4 c. unsweetened pineapple juice concentrate
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. shredded carrots
1/2 c. raisins
3/4 c. crushed unsweetened pineapple, drained

Very first step, preheat the oven to 350°F and grease and flour two 8x8x2 inch pans. Next, I grated the carrots using this old outdated archaic food processor. It looks like its from the 60's, because it is from the 60's. A hand me down from my mother that I will not let go. It's dependable and efficient. They don't make 'em like this one anymore!

After that, I tossed the dry ingredients in one bowl. In a second bowl, I stirred the oil, eggs, juice and vanilla.

Stir the liquid into dry ingredients until smooth. 

 

Add the carrots, raisins and pineapple. 

Scrape the batter into prepared pans and bake 35-40 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for about one hour or if you are like me, till you have time to come back and frost, which may be the next day.

The finishing touch, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. See recipe below. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine did!

Cream Cheese Frosting

For Carrot Cake or Applesauce Cake.

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsweetened pineapple juice concentrate
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. finely grated orange zest

Beat all ingredients together until smooth.

My Quest for truly Sugar Free Jam

I have been on the search for a truly sugar free homemade recipe for jam or jelly, I would say, for many years now. I know that grocers sell sugar free jam sweetened with fruit juice in the store without any artificial sweeteners, but the price is really not economical for my family, especially considering the amount of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we eat in our household. Many times (because we are out of jelly and I just can't see myself spending $3 on a teeny tiny jar of jam) we eat only peanut butter sandwiches, natural peanut butter without the sugar.

I thought I hit the jackpot one day when I found a canning recipe on Pinterest that only required three ingredients; strawberries, water, and 1 box of SURE-JELL (For Less or No Sugar Needed Recipes) Premium Fruit Pectin. I have never used fruit pectin before (I am only a beginner canner) and upon further research (after I already paid for the pectin and brought it home) discovered that one of the very first ingredients is dextrose, an artificial sweetener! Well, there goes that idea. So in my quest for a truly sugar free jam, I found a second recipe that looked promising, but again the ingredient list included honey, which is a natural sugar, but something I was looking to avoid. My mother recently discovered a list of food items that she is truly sensitive to and honey and any sugars (artificial or natural) are on that list. I wanted to create something that she could enjoy on her gluten free sugar free yeast free piece of bread. So I eventually stumbled across a freezer jam recipe from Thrifty Veggie Mama. BINGO! Exactly what I was looking for!

You know me...I am not one to follow a recipe exactly, so this is the recipe I created using Thrifty Veggies Mama's recipe as inspiration. This first recipe was incredibly sweet using the juice concentrate alone, so my second batch, I modified and used fruit juice instead. Something else I realized after my first batch, make sure to chop the strawberries into tiny pieces to make the jam more spreadable. If the strawberry pieces are too large, it will not spread easily onto your bread. Also, very important, when a recipe says stir constantly, do it! I, of course, walked away from the stove and almost ended with a burnt gloppy mess of fruit syrup.

First Attempt at this recipe...
 
Ingredients:
1 can frozen berry blend 100% juice concentrate
5 TBSP cornstarch
2 TBSP lemon juice
3 cups fresh chopped strawberries

Dear daughter helping with the chopping.

In a blender, I combined the first 3 ingredients. Then, poured into a saucepan and brought to a boil. Make sure to stir constantly until thick and clear. Next, I folded in 3 cups fresh chopped strawberries. Finally, I added the jam to 5 1/2 pint jars or several plastic containers and placed in the freezer. I did save one jar and placed it in the refrigerator to enjoy with our next meal. The jam can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Second Attempt at this recipe, I doubled the ingredients and used fruit juice rather than concentrate...

Ingredients:
3 cups 100% fruit juice from concentrate (this time I used Apple Kiwi Strawberry, I ran out of the berry blend)
10 TBSP cornstarch
4 TBSP lemon juice
6 cups fresh chopped strawberries

In a blender, I combined the first 3 ingredients. Then, poured into a saucepan and brought to a boil. Stir constantly until thick and clear. Fold in 3 cups fresh chopped strawberries. Add to jars or plastic containers and place in the freezer or store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Notice the jam made with fruit juice is lighter in color. The doubled batch yielded 8 1/2 pints and 2 small plastic containers.

The jam was great on our roast beef sandwich.

 

Fruity Banana Chutney

Here's a chutney you can make at any time of year because it uses a combination of dried fruits and those that are available year-round. Try it with grilled chicken for a delicious treat.
Makes about 6 (8 oz) half pints. I tried this recipe with only 2 TBSP of the dark brown sugar.  Many of the fruit are sweet enough on its own...Why add all the sugar.  When it was cooking on the stove top, it smelled sickeningly sweet, glad I didn't add all that extra sugar.  We used it on tilapia tonight and broiled it for 15 minutes in the oven. Very Tasty!

View Half Recipe

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup chopped cored peeled apple (about 2 medium)
1-1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 5 medium)
1 cup chopped pitted dates (about half a pint)
1 cup chopped pitted prunes
1 cup chopped onions (about 1-1/2 medium)
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 raisins or craisins
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 TBSP lightly packed brown sugar
(original recipe called for 1-1/2 cups lightly packed dark brown sugar)
1/2 cup water
1-1/2 tsp ground ground coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger (original recipe called for 1 tsp grated ginger root)
6 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands
(I actually filled 4 pint jars, original recipe says it will fill 6 half pint jars.)

1.) MEASURE vinegar into a large stainless steel saucepan. To prevent the apples from browning, drop them into the vinegar as they are being chopped, stirring to ensure all surfaces are covered.
2.) ADD bananas, dates, prunes, onions, apricots, raisins/craisins, and garlic. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Add brown sugar, water, coriander, cayenne, allspice, turmeric and ginger, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil gently, stirring frequently, until the chutney is thick enough to mound on a spoon, about 15 minutes.
3.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside. (I use the rinse cycle on my dishwasher and let it continue to the drying cycle until I am ready to use the jars.)
4.) LADLE hot chutney into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles and adjust head space, if necessary, by adding hot chutney. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
5.) PROCESS jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

The jars didn't seal right away so I reprocessed it for a second time for an even longer time (15 minutes) and instead of removing it from the water bath, I left it to cool with the water.  We will see if it works the second time.