Delicious Easter jello with home made pudding, marshmallows and cheddar cheese

Grandma's Jello Salad 

Delicious Easter jello with home made pudding, marshmallows and cheddar cheese

Since Easter is fast approaching, I thought I would share this beloved recipe again.  With almost 10,000 views, this is a fan favorite.  My Grandmother came up with this recipe and the home made pudding.  Sadly, Grandma is no longer with us.  She the year she turned 90.  She was 89 for several years before she acutally turned 90.  She'd swat at me for saying that, if she were here.  I'd love for her to be here.  I miss her terribly.  If you make her Jello Salad recipe, say a little prayer for those of us who miss her so.  Thank you all for your loyalty and for keeping her recipe alive.

Oh, one more note, even though the cheese sounds like it might not be so good, it is delicious.  You can not imagine how well this combination is.  My Grandma is a genius!! :)

One of my most favorite deserts is my Grandma's jello salad.  She made up this recipe and it is a family favorite.

I use different variations of this Jello salad, but the same technique Grandma taught me.  The home made pudding is out of this world. It is very easy to make.

When my husband first saw this jello salad, he wasn't sure what to think.  He told me he didn't think the cheese was such a good idea, he didn't think he'd like it.  His mind was quickly changed once he took a taste.  Don't write this off because you think the cheese will not be good, it is wonderful.
I found these cute, rabbit shaped, marshmallows and decided to use them since it is Easter.  They are hidden a little in the cheese, but it's still a cute presentation. 

This recipe makes a lot of Jello Salad. I cut it in half and I have fun with the combinations of jello and fruit. I also use the flavored marshmallows to mix things up a bit. Kids love this, and adults do too!

My Grandma makes this a lot, and she always adds different kinds of fruit with the pineapples. Her favorite type of fruit to add are bananas. I'm allergic to bananas! I went to her house and she told me she made her jello salad. I cut myself a piece then put it right back in the pan. I went back into the living room with no jello. She was just about to ask me why, when her eyes got all big and she said BANANAS! A few weeks later she made the jello again. This time she didn't add banana's and was happy to tell me that. I was so glad I could have a slice of her jello salad.  I get a slice and there were some odd looking fruit pieces mixed in with the pineapple, just to be sure I asked what they were, Mango. I'm allergic to mango too. So, I had to learn how to make it myself, or I'd never get any I could eat! Ha Ha.
The first recipe is Grandma's actual Jello Salad.  The ingredients I used for the salad pictured are listed below.  Feel free to experiment with flavor combinations. 


Grandma's Jello Salad:


1 regular package Lemon Jello
1 regular package Orange Jello
 can crushed pineapple
1 bag mini marshmallows
Orange Juice
2 TB. sugar
3 TB. flour
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 pint whipping cream (or 8oz. Cool Whip)
Grated cheddar cheese

Prepare Jello according to package
Drain pineapple and reserve the juice
Add pineapple to jello
Pour into glass dish
Cover with mini marshmallows and refrigerate to gel

Add orange juice to pineapple juice to make 1 cup

Pour into sauce pan

Add sugar, flour, and beaten egg

Cook over medium heat until pudding like, stir constantly
Remove from heat and allow to cool at room temperature, stirring occasionally
Once room temp., refrigerate until ready to add to Jello salad

Put whipping cream in a bowl and add lemon juice

Fold in the pudding mixture, whip together (if using whipped topping, then mix into pudding mixture)

Put on top of marshmallows then grate cheese on top

Refrigerate until ready to serve

Easter Jello Pudding ingredients:

Raspberry jello

Bunny shaped Marshmallows

Fruit cocktail drained, reserve the juice to use for the pudding

PLEASE NOTE: This recipe is protected by copyright law 2012.

Holiday Spice-up-your-own Coffee! Mock Holiday Spice Coffee.

I love to go to a  certain coffee shop and get a Christmas Blend coffee.  I was looking forward to the Holiday Spice’s appearance.  

A little background first, I was diagnosed with border line diabetes and told to lose weight in January of this year.  There is a family history of diabetes, and I have been dreading the diagnosis my entire life.  I was diagnosed with Hypogylcemia about 23 years ago, it came along with a warning that in 10 years it might turn to diabetes.  I have been so grateful that it took so long, however, I was hoping that diagnosis would never come.  The borderline diabetes came along with a ray of hope, well a couple of them.  Lose weight and take the blood test again, this time without drinking coffee with creamer in it, have a true fasting blood sugar test.  Of course my Doctor gave me that exasperatted look when I told him I had 2 cups of coffee with creamer before the blood test.  I told him I drank the coffee for the safety of all, but he didn’t think it was funny.  So I’m due for the next blood test, but honestly I’m scared.  I remember going to the hospital and seeing my Great Grandmother in bed, after having her other leg removed due to diabetes.  As I type this, I see I need to go get that test to avoid what happened to her!  Writing really is therapeutic, but I digress.  Let me get back on track.  

Since January, I have been on a crusade to limit my intake of sugar to 26 grams a day.  I bought some really great books on how to eat healthy, by eating foods to fuel our bodies without fueling our fat cells.  I’ve gone down one size in clothes, so that’s good news.  I managed to curve my, expensive, fancy latte addiction, by only purchasing a Coconut milk latte.  I, mistakingly, thought this was reducing my sugar intake while still getting my latte.  Wrong.  That Latte is still 15 grams of sugar!! That’s over 1/2 of my sugar intake for an entire day! 

I was excited for the Holiday Spice to come out.  I thought it was just spices they add to the drink, meaning, no extra sugar!  Wrong again.  28 grams of sugar.  28.  That’s 2 over my daily allowance.  The first ingredient in the spice mix is sugar.  Un. Be. Liev. Able.  After I pouted about that fact, complained to my sister and just mulled it over and over and over for a few days, I decided to make my own spice mix.  

My first attempt was to use pre-mixed Pumpkin Pie spice.  It was ok, but honestly, mine was old and didn’t taste that great.  My next attempt, I mixed my own, freshly ground spices.  I added monk fruit to sweeten it.  Amazing.  Here it is, the Holiday Spice-up-your-own Coffee:

Holiday Spice-up-your-own Coffee

3 Teaspoons organic ground cinnamon

1 Teaspoon ground cloves

2/3 Teaspoon Orange peel

4 allspice kernels

2/3 Teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 Teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1/2 Teaspoon of pure Monk Fruit (this seems like a lot, but when it’s blended with all of the spices, it’s not that much. This measurement is for PURE, powdered monk fruit.  No additives.  The pure monk fruit is 300 times sweeter than sugar.)

I used my Mortar and Pestle to grind it all up, which in turn made sure there were no big chucks of spices, while thoroughly mixing everything together.  

Feel free to tweak the ingredients as you like, and use whichever on-plan sweetener you choose.  

I store my spice mix in a, leak proof, medicine container I bought online.  I use about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon in my coffee, depends on how spicy I want my coffee to be.  Christmas in a cup.  That’s what it tastes like.  Christmas in a delicious cup of delectable coffee.  

Warm Cinnamon Pineapple Dessert

Warm Cinnamon Pineapple Dessert

One of our favorite places to visit is the beach.  We love the beach.  By "we" I mean, my son and me. My Husband goes with us because he knows how much we love it. This past summer, our neighbor's offered us the use of their Condo.  Of course we couldn't pass it by, so we took an unplanned vacation to the Beach.  As always we had so much fun.  We were in walking distance to several Pancake Houses, and we could see the oceanfront from the balcony. We were also very close to many of the attractions.  It was a wonderful get away.  We visited with some friends who live there, and we went out to eat, a lot.  

I have heard of Brazilian Steakhouses, but never been to one.  I decided to surprise my family with a trip to Brazil, via the Rioz Brazilian Steakhouse.  Now, I'm not trying to "plug" the steakhouse, but feel it necessary to call them by name, because I am about to share this recipe that I got from the waiter, or Gaucho, in the restaurant.  It's so important that we give proper credit where credit is due. 

If you have never been to a Brazilian Steakhouse, and you love meat, all meat, and you have dreams of being surrounded by a multitude of deliciously seasoned, and cooked meats, then you must go to a Brazilian Steakhouse.  We walked in and were immediately greeted by a friendly hostess, who checked our reservation and led us to our table.  We walked past a large buffet covered in every different type of vegetable, mixed salads, fruit, pasta, breads, seafood, cheeses, among other delicacies nestled among the ice, or steaming above a friendly warmer.   I was beginning to think, we'd be there all night.  

Once seated at our table, the young lady gave us an explanation of what to expect, and our role.  We could help ourselves to the endless Buffet, upon returning to our table there will be fried bananas, cheese bread, polenta and mashed potatoes.  We were each given a two sided card, one side was red, the other green.  The lovely Hostess instructed us, at our discretion, turn the card to the green side to begin the parade of the main courses.  When we have had enough, turn to red, repeat if we so choose.  We followed her direction, and upon returning to our table, found it just as she described.  Each of us turned our cards to green.  To say we were overwhelmed with the choices of meat presented to us would be a gross understatement.  Perfectly cooked meats, lined up neatly on warm  skewers, were in turn delivered to us.  It was a dance of such pleasure, we could not resist.  Very soon, our plates were piled high with perfect portions of mouth watering selections.  Each of us flipped the cards to red, the dance was over and we could enjoy our feast without interruption.  

Delighted by the atmosphere, we were soon ready to begin another wave of friendly Gaucho's.  The ballet began anew.  As a Gaucho came near, he had a type of meat I could not identify on his skewer. It looked, as he got closer, not like meat at all, but pineapple.   I couldn't be sure, as it was golden brown, crusted in a ruddy glaze.  What could this be?  It was, indeed, pineapple. Grilled to perfection on the rotisserie, covered in cinnamon sugar and presented as though it were a golden treasure.  We soon found out that is precisely what it is.  Golden treasure.  We sent our waitress to find him, three times.  

This has now become one of our favorite treats.  We eat thick, warm slices of cinnamon pineapple with frozen whipped topping.  Sometimes we eat the delectable pineapple all on it's own.  If you have never tried a warm, baked pineapple you don't know what you are missing.  The baking process brings out the juices which intermingle with the cinnamon sugar and create a mouth watering crust, full of sweet juicy pineapple flavor.

I am going to share with you, the simplicity that is the Grilled pineapple.  Whether you cut your own pineapple, or purchase it already cut and cored, it doesn't matter.  It will work either way. 

Cut the skin off the pineapple, no need to core it.  

Don't have a rotisserie? No problem, just elevate with a wire rack. 

Roll in Cinnamon Sugar, make sure to coat all sides thoroughly.

Place in oven, full recipe is shown below.  

 Warm Cinnamon Pineapple Dessert

1 Whole organic Pineapple

1 Cup organic sugar

2 Tablespoon ground Ceylon Cinnamon

• Remove the skin from the pineapple, careful to cut the sharp "eyes" out as well.  
• No need to core the pineapple, unless you want to shorten the baking time. 
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• Place a wire rack on a cookie sheet
• Mix the cinnamon into the sugar, use as much or as little of the sugar  and cinnamon as you like
• Carefully cover the pineapple in the cinnamon sugar by rolling and sprinkling it all over
• Place the coated pineapple on the wire rack and place in the oven, on the middle rack 
• Bake for 45 minutes until the entire pineapple has been warmed through and the cinnamon sugar is a mahogany color 
• Careful not to burn the sugar mixture
• Check at 30 minutes just to be safe
• Remove from oven and let cool a little
• Cut into thick slices, place on a plate 
• Serve as is or with ice cream or frozen whipped topping.  

Blackberry and Raspberry Cobbler with Monk Fruit

Blackberry and Raspberry Cobbler

Blackberry and Raspberry Cobbler with Monk Fruit

Recently, I was diagnosed with borderline diabetes, and that I need to lose 25.5 lbs, (will recheck in October bc Dr. wants to make sure that it wasn't a mistake, since I drank coffee with creamer before the test. I had to have something and coffee makes me happy. 😬)  The words from my Doctor hit me with a, near, knock out punch. I was a mess, mentally and emotionally. 

Ok, boom, pow, I took the hits now it's time to get up and dust off my boots.  What's next dear Dr. Carpio?  He said, cut the sugar, eat lots of fruits and veggies and lose 25.5 pounds, then, as always he smiled.

Ok.  Cut sugar. I can do that.  Lose 25.5 lbs.......that's the challenge, but I will do my very best.  In college and shortly after, I used starvation to lose weight, therefore, I don't weigh myself because it triggers the starvation mindset and becomes an obsession.  I must come up with something else.  I consulted a Specialist to help me lose the fat in a healthy  manner. Weight loss in progress.

Next, cutting the sugar.  I love sweet tea, I love ice cream, I love cake, I love sweets.  I hate diet anything.  I can't use artificial sweetners because I have an allergy to something in them and my head starts buzzing, no kidding.  I have long since abandoned, as many things as possible, that contain GMO's and are not organic.  The research into an effective, natural sweetener began.

I can not emphasis more, DO YOUR RESEARCH, there are many "natural" sweetners out there that are only "natural" because a part of it came from nature at one point. Just because something says "natural" doesn't mean healthy. Take Agave syrup, it is terrible for you!  "Most agave syrup has higher fructose content than any commercial sweetener -- ranging from 70 to 97 percent, depending on the brand, which is FAR HIGHER than high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which averages 55 percent."

While some Stevia products do contain stevia, they  also contain chemicals. The FDA has not approved pure Stevia for use as a sweetener, as seen in this excerpt from an article written by the Mayo Clinic. "Note that although the FDA has approved highly refined stevia preparations as a novel sweetener, it has not approved whole-leaf stevia or crude stevia extracts for this use."  Key words, "highly refined," code for adding chemicals in the refining process.  That's why Stevia still has an after taste, as do other "sweeteners." My sister bought me some Stevia plants, and when I take a leaf from the Stevia plant and chew on it, or add it to my tea, there is NO aftertaste.  Sigh, why does the FDA approve chemicals but not the natural/actual plant????

In my research I found Monk Fruit.  As you all know, I have food allergies so I have to be extra careful with regards to what I put in my body.  Lots of research later, I found out that the monk fruit  is a gourd and part of the pumpkin family.  Good news for me, I'm not allergic to pumpkins.  Yes!  I also learned that the area the Monk Fruit is harvested, has more Centanarians than any other part of the world. Also good news.  Monk fruit got it's name because the Chinese Monks used it medicinally, it's actual name is Luo Han Guo.  Some of the most important health benefits of monk fruit include its ability to treat diabetes, help with weight loss, lower inflammation, eliminate fever, prevent certain types of cancer, protect the heart, prevent allergies, and prevent signs of aging.  Monk Fruit is also 300 times sweeter than cane sugar.  Could this be true?  Only one way to find out, buy some.

While searching for Monk fruit, I found that 99% of all monk fruit sweetners are mixed with something.  For instance, dextrose is mixed with a popular "raw" sweetener.  Dextrose is a sugar, anyting with "ose" is a sugar.  How can it be raw, if it's mixed with something?  It can't have a lot of monk fruit in it for two reasons, #1 Dextrose is listed first in the ingredients and #2 monk fruit is brown, not white.  If a monk fruit sweetner is white, it's not pure.  There are other "monk fruit" sweeteners out there, but they all have an added ingredient or more.  Also, since Monk Fruit is approximately 300 times sweeter than sugar, and the container says that 1 teaspoon, is a serving, it can't be pure, right?  I want PURE, 100% pure.  So I searched Organic and found a product with 100% pure monk fruit in it.   I purchased it, and WOW.  Just WOW!

I'm not trying to do an ad, but I have to share!  Monk Fruit, pure, 100% organic Monk Fruit is BOMB!  It's is delicious,  no aftertaste, it dissolves in cold drinks, hot drinks, it doesn't break down into a chemical mess when it's added to baked goods.  It is out of this world.  My son with a massive sweet tooth even likes it!  Here's a picture of it:

This is the scooper included in the container. 

The container says 1 gram is a serving, and there are 100 servings in each container. NO WAY, there's probably more like 300 servings in there, simply because it's SO sweet!

This is about how much I use in my coffee, probably less.  It is super super sweet!

I have been using the Monk Fruit for about a month and I have to tell you, I don't miss sugar at all!  This stuff is so sweet that you have to be very careful with how much is used.  I carry it with me,  and my friend asked me to sweeten her tea with it.  (I've given up Sweet Tea, I order Unsweet and put Monk Fruit in it.)  I kept shaking a little in at a time, and she said more....more.....I accidentally dumped more, a lot more!  We both gasped in horror, that tea would be way too sweet to drink!  Thankfully, the tea was so strong that it was ok.  

If you have been following my blog, you see that we love cobblers!  I tried to make cobbler with a little bit of monk fruit and no sugar whatsoever.  I'd never tried to cook with the monk fruit before so I didn't use enough causing the end product to not be as good.  I tried again and this one, well, that's why there's a picture of an empty dish.  I took the cobbler out of the oven, and the two, 10 year old, boys were trying to taste it while it was bubbling hot.  I had to defend it against them until it could be plated.  In all the turmoil, I didn't take a picture of the "before."  I did get a picture of the "after," like less than 15 minutes after, literally.  

Enough Jabber.....Here's the recipe!  Try it and let me know your thoughts in the comments!!!

Blackberry and Raspberry Cobbler with Monk Fruit

1/2 Stick organic butter

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

1 cup organic flour

1 organic egg

1/2 cup 2% organic milk

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 scoop of Organic Monk Fruit apx. 1gram (scoop included in pkg.)

pinch kosher salt

1 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder

1/2 cup Blackberries (or fruit of your choice)

1/2 cup Raspberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Put casserole dish in oven with the butter, allowing it to melt

Pull out when butter is completely melted

Sprinkle the brown sugar on the the melted butter

In a bowl mix the flour, egg, milks, monk fruit, salt and baking powder

Pour over the butter and the brown sugar

Drop berries on top of the batter, (don't completely cover the batter but put as many as you like on top.)

Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes until top is golden brown and bubbly.  

Let cool before serving, with a scoop of frozen whipped topping. (freezing it gives it the consistency of ice-cream, which satisfies our sweet tooth, but with 1 gram of sugar and 25 calories for 2 tablespoons.  compare to your favorite vanilla ice cream and you'll see this is a "diet" SCORE!)

credits:  Agave: Marcola, click on link to go to page. Stevia: Mayo Clinic, click on link to go to page. Monk Fruit: Organic Facts, click on link to go to page.  Links are highlighted in blog.

Acorn Squash with Grapes, Cardamom and Cinnamon. Out of this world.

Acorn Squash is one of my favorite things to make.  It's so easy and so versatile.  I always make it the same way, however that gets old, so I decided to change it up.  It's a big joke in my house when asked, "what's for supper?"  

That question is usually followed by, "Is it one of your concoctions?"  

The answer to that is nearly always, "pretty much."  

My husband doesn't mind my concoctions because he says they're usually pretty good.  Not always, for instance, two weeks ago I decided to try my hand at roasting vegetables.  I didn't really know what to do, but how hard can it be?  I bought some golden beets, carrots, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions.  I called my brother about the beets, he said to boil them first before I baked them.  Good advice. Once I was ready to assemble the vegetables on the pan, I remembered one of the Chefs on Food Network, (the lady with the crazy platinum hair, can't remember her name) say to make sure and salt every new addition of vegetables.  Ok, so I did.  Well, the roasted veggies came out looking great, but tasted awful!!!!!  So salty it was so gross, it all got dumped.  I was very upset with the waste, but nothing could be saved.  Nasty.  So take from that, don't salt every new layer of veggies.  No No No. 

Back to the Acorn Squash.  I have a recipe for acorn squash on the blog, you can find it here.

I usually bake it, then fix up some baked fruit to go in the middle with brown sugar and butter.  It's really good, but, like I said I needed a change.  

Years ago I remember having some wonderful chicken cooked with grapes.  The flavor was absolutely fantastic and the grapes added a very nice taste and texture to the dish.  I thought I'd give my new idea a chance, what's the worst that could happen?  So I made up the acorn squash and along with it, cooked up some chicken with the same grapes, to tie the meal together.  My son, who tends to be on the picky side (wonder where he gets that from? Certainly not me. Insert sarcasm here) loved it.  All of it!  The taste was so delicious, we didn't need to add anything but a little pat of butter.  Really, if you all haven't tried to make Acorn Squash you really need to.  It looks so fancy when you fill it up with fruit, and serve it on the plate with your other food.  A lot of people avoid acorn squash because it looks weird and many recipes call for peeling and cutting.  No thanks.  I like the way my Mom taught me better.  

 Without any further ado here is the recipe. 

Acorn Squash with Cardamom, Cinnamon and Grapes:

1 Acorn Squash

16 grapes 

Sprinkle of Cardamom

1/2 a Cinnamon stick 

2 tsp brown sugar (if you want, we didn't use any and it was wonderful)

Preheat the oven to 350

Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds

Prepare a baking sheet with a layer of aluminum foil 

Place a pile of grapes, sprinkle of cardamom and the 1/2 cinnamon stick on top of the grapes

**NOTE: go easy with the cardamom as it can easily and unpleasantly overwhelm the dish

Place the acorn squash over the grapes, making sure the sliced side is touching the foil. 

Pour water in the pan to seal up the edges of the acorn squash (this will keep the squash from burning and drying out.)

Carefully place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  

You can tell the acorn squash is ready, by touching the top of the squash, if it makes a little dent, it's ready.  If it's still hard, leave it in the oven for a few more minutes.  

By leaving the skin on the squash, you've made yourself a bowl. 

When the squash is done, take out of the oven and turn over, add the grapes, a pat of butter and 1 tsp of brown sugar, scrape the squash off the skin, mix and enjoy.

If you try this recipe or, have an acorn squash recipe you like, share with us in the comments.  

Old Fashioned Blackberry Cobbler Recipe

The field behind our house is full of wild blackberry bushes.  The brambles rise up to the light, full of red berries and the ripened blackberries.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  We have 12 acres, and nearly every where you look there are blackberry bushes.  Some are surrounded by poison ivy, some right along the trails that are cut through the thick underbrush, and some just waving in the breeze among the high grass.  You'd think we would have so many blackberries, we'd be sick of them.  Maybe we could pick so many of them we could sell them at the Farmers Market.  You'd think and you'd be wrong.  Those blackberries are very sought after, and not just by us, but by the animals that live in the field.  We are nestled at the base of a mountain, altitude about 2400 feet above sea level.  

While we do not live IN the mountain, we have a plethora of wild animals to compete with for the blackberries.  One of which is a fat, black bear.  That's right, a bear.  He lives in the field behind our house, periodically breaking into our trash cans to have a feast. Last year were able to only pick one small bowl of blackberries before  he grumped at us, causing us to beat a hasty retreat.  This year, I was determined I would get more than one bowl.  If we don't pick them as soon as they turn black, the bear, deer, skunks, raccoons, possum, squirrels and a variety of birds will pick the vines clean.  I was able to pick the berries 2 times.  I got enough to freeze, which is wonderful, although I doubt they'll make it to the winter because of our love of cobbler.  A few weeks ago, when the red berries were turning black, a friend went to pick some berries.  He has been in the country his whole life of 72 years, and armed with 4 wheeler and a pistol (to scare, not harm, the bear) he went into the field.  A short time later, he came back out.  He said he was picking berries and heard something following him in the bushes.  He looked down at one point and saw a pile of bear poo.  Jumping on the 4 wheeler, clutching his prize of berries he came back to the house. Having admitted he was scared of the bear he thanked me for the berries and left.  I decided I best not go pick anymore either.  Once the berries are scarce, the bear might be a little less fearful and more aggressive since his winter survival would be in question.   

This is a picture of a Mama bear and her cub that frequent my Dad's property.  She is a black bear, the same as the bear who occupies the field.  As my child would say, "Cute, but not cuddly."  I should say so!  Nonetheless, I managed to get some delicious, fresh blackberries and made a fantastic Blackberry cobbler.  I made a video of the process.  Trying something new on my blog.  Hope you enjoy it! 

Old Fashioned Blackberry Cobbler

1/2 stick organic butter
1 cup organic milk
1 cup organic flour
3/4 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 organic egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
Blackberries (or any other fruit you like)

Pre-heat oven to 350 F
Place 1/2 stick of butter in 2 8x8 Cobbler pans (or 1 stick in 12x12 pan) and put in the oven as it pre-heats
Take out when the butter has melted and slightly browned
Take pan out of the oven and sprinkle the brown sugar all around the pan, especially the edges

In a seperate bowl mix the rest of the ingredients and pour into the pan, on top of the butter and brown sugar.

Drop blackberries (as many/little) on top of the batter

Return the pan to the oven and bake 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly

Serve warm with a scoop of organic chocolate ice-cream

Note:  You can use non-organic ingredients and the egg is optional, you can also adjust the sugar to your liking.
To make a larger pan, just double the ingredients.
If you'd like you can add a tsp of baking powder and a pinch of salt, this will make the batter rise more.
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Calendula infused Coconut Oil with French Lavender

Mary’s Gold: I use Calendula in my super popular Healing Honey Butter.  Why?  Calendula has been used since ancient times for cooking, making clothing dye, and for medicinal use.  The earliest records claim that the tea from the Calendula Officinalis can help with women issues, gut issues, and many others.  Topically Calendula flowers were placed in open wounds to staunch bleeding, help heal and to avoid infection.  It was also used in tinctures and balms to heal the skin, treat acne, reduce inflammation, help heal cuts, scrapes and bug bites to name a few. 

Most everyone is familiar with Lavender.  The soothing scent has been used to reduce anxiety and induce sleep for ions.  It was also used as an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory.  I have used Lavender on my skin to help take the sting out of sunburns.  We take the Healing Honey Butter on all of our trips, especially our last trip to visit my Mom in Florida.  Where my Mom ended up with a bad sunburn.  She put on the Healing Honey butter, and while her skin remained red through the next day, she did not hurt or itch at all.  I usually burn one time a year, I know it's bad I don't mean too.  I used my Healing Honey Butter and no longer felt the sting and itching of my damaged skin. Below is a picture of my sunburned shoulder, I posted on Instagram. 

How many times have you seen a commercial that touts their Lavender product will help you sleep, will calm your child and help them sleep, will reduce your anxiety and stress levels?  There's a reason Lavender has been used since ancient times.  It works.  Not the chemically processed versions sold on tv and in commercial skin care and bath products.  Pure Lavender from the actual Lavender plant.  Distilled into pure therapeutic essential oils.  The real lavender.  True and pure lavender.  Essentially and Purely Lavender oil.  Once you smell true lavender, you will be able  to detect the imposters and reject them.  

How do I make this amazing, Healing Honey Butter?

I infuse my Organic Coconut oil with Organic, dried, Calendula Officinalis flowers and beeswax. I like to take my time when making an infusion, I want to get the absolute most out of the flowers I use.  I want to sell my Customers the highest quality product. So I start my infusion and carefully monitor it, stirring the coconut oil to allow a perfect mixture of oil to healing benefits of the calendula flower.  

Once the infusion has reached maturity I then start the process to whip it into a frothy state to keep it from hardening into a big lump that is difficult to get out of it's container.  This has to been done several times as the butter cools and hardens.  After it has cooled sufficiently, I then add the pure French Lavender Essential oil.  Blend and pour into the containers. The smell is heavenly and the result is divine.  I should have named it Heavenly Honey Butter.  

I like to add beeswax as it helps the coconut oil set up and seals in the skins moisture along with the healing power of the Calendula.  By adding Lavender, the skin healing/soothing benefits gets a real boost, plus the scent of lavender is soothing and calming.  Healing Honey Butter has a light fragrance and goes on smoothly.  Your skin will be soft and supple all day long.  Try some today, see how much your skin can benefit from this ultra moisturizing and healing butter.  I promise your skin will love you for it!

I use all the products in my line of skin care.  All of them, I wouldn't sell anything that I don't love. If you would like to make a purchase go to my website: www.essentiallypurely.com or visit my Etsy store.  

Legal mumbo-jumbo:

These Statements have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, mitigate, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Avoid if pregnant. Avoid if allergic to any ingredients, or if allergic to the Daisy family.  Pictures from Wikipedia, except the one of my shoulder.  That's mine.