There’s a lot spinning in the world right now, and it feels a bit strange to be on the kind of carousel that doesn’t stop for any of it. I won’t be marching in any protests for women’s rights this week, because I’m packing up my bags + marching my little remote kitchen to Virgin, Utah where I’ll be cooking for the women of RedBull Formation for the next two weeks. It’s a whole different way of demonstrating for women’s rights to rule their own bodies — because these ladies are going to be defying gravity, stomping lines, and harnessing their inherent power…on their bikes.
Everything about the way these women ride bikes defies the patriarchal estimation of what women are capable of, digging trails in the raw desert, collaborating to build tricky lines down shale-strewn faces, and jumping off of cliffs hundreds of feet in the air. There is no telling these women what they can + can’t do with their bodies. These women recognized long ago that no one was going to give them the power to be superhuman — they’re going to reach out and take that power instead.
My job there is to keep them balanced: fueled, supported, and healthy. Over the next few weeks, we’ll talk about the rituals and ingredients that their bodies need to stay calm, cool, and collected when the wind is blowing, the sun is beating down on them, and fear is bubbling up.
And I suppose, that’s my role in the world anyway: there is plenty of meme flinging out there. You don’t need me to remind you that the issues presented on the floor of our Supreme Court are horrifying, that I’m appalled, and disappointed that the free nation I live in threatens to roll back the progress of women’s rights by 50 years. But what I can provide is a no-bullshit recipe filled with good stuff that will keep us going, keep the bright side in view. When our bodies + minds are clear, we can proceed with strength, stoicism and can actually BE unstoppable instead of feeling fearful that something will stop us in our tracks. Anger won’t get us nearly as far as well-aimed action. But to see the target, we have to be able to see clearly, to aim our potent arrows, to keep our focus, and to be ready to pounce — to leap off the cliff when it’s time.
When I get to the desert, one of the first things I’m going to do is bake a batch of these Strawberry Buckwheat Chia Jam Bars for the ladies. They’re chewy, and gooey (check out my little IG video to see the texture!) plus they’re packed with the RIGHT kind of power. Instead of being jam-packed with refined sugar that will only pick up their efforts + throw them on the floor in a sugar crash later, these sweet bars (packed with all-fruit, no crap chia jam!) will keep the energy balanced, and taste buds alight. They’re refined-sugar-free and easy to make vegan + gluten-free too. And, they’re the snack we’ll all need to replenish from the distances we’ve come and to prepare for the road ahead.
Many of you have reached out + asked about sweeteners – specifically EVAPORATED CANE JUICE. Yes, I know that the word “juice” sounds like this would be a liquid. The answer is that it once was.
Sugar is made by extracting the juice of various different sweet foods – beets and sugar cane most commonly. Coconut nectar is processed in the same way; extracted and dehydrated. The granulated sugar that we all grew up with and find on the grocery store shelves IS that juice, evaporated. But this sugar is also bleached and stripped of its critical minerals and nutrients before being packaged up and delivered in its pure white form.
Evaporated cane juice is also that juice – extracted from sugar cane. It’s also evaporated. But it is NOT stripped of nutrients or bleached, which is why you’ll find the color of this also-granulated type of sugar to be a little bit off-white.
Evaporated cane juice is still juice, even when it’s evaporated. But you’ll find it in the baking aisle of your grocery store as a granulated product. It’s often also called Cane Juice and this will work just fine. Just don’t use something called GRANULATED SUGAR.
Most jam bar recipes call for a store-bought jam in the ingredients list. Not so here. You’re going to make your own jam…and it’s going to rock your world. But before you freak out, let me assure you that this jam is SO EASY that you’re unlikely to go back to buying jam ever again…especially when you learn how good for you this sweet spread is.
Most jams contain extra sugar, a stabilizer and a gelling agent to make the fruit spreadable. These are all things that nature never really intended for fruit to collaborate with. Fruit is sweet enough as it is without added sugar, ya know?
So for this jam, I simply cook down the fruit, add a little pinch of salt to help the juices release, and add a squeeze of lemon juice and some zest (to brighten the flavors and to infuse the jam with a bit of sour that helps our bodies to balance the sweetness – energetically, physically and in flavor.) I add a little cardamom and some cinnamon to lift the flavors up, and turn this jam into medicine. Lastly, I add a little chia to make the jam, well, “jammy.” These super little seeds are exceptional for helping the gut to draw out toxins and undigested material, plus they help soothe the digestive system and keep things, er….running smoothly.
Cooked fruits – without sugar – are like nectar for the body. Easy to digest, easy to add to other foods without fermenting in the gut (because we’ve started their cooking process outside the body!), and when we add spices, chia, and a bit of bright acidity, we have not just a “jam” but THE JAM for our bodies.
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