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.

Lemon & Rosemary baked chicken with fixins'

HEY PAW! What's for supper?


Tonight we're having lemon & rosemary baked chicken, corny cornbread muffins, tater tots for the tot, fried corn & little green onions, and Grandma's jello salad. YUMMMMYYYYY.

It's been a cold and snowy day. We've played in the snow, drank hot chocolate (or in the case of my son, guzzled) and ate cookies and strawberries. Now it's time for dinner, what to make? On cold snowy days, I want to make soup. I must refrain, I've made soup two Sunday's in a row. So, what's the next best and easiest thing? Baked chicken.


Now, the thing to remember is, I'm not an expert. So don't take the measurements to heart. Use as much or as little as you like. To be safe with cooking meat, cook according to the package directions. I look for easy things to fix, without a lot of time and fuss. I simply don't have the time, nor do I want to take hours to fix my supper. Fix & serve, that's how I like it.


Grandma's Jello Salad has several steps, so you will have to start this in the afternoon. It's still pretty easy, it just sounds hard. Once you make it, you'll see the steps are easy.


My husband insisted I take a picture of the plate, since he said it looked and tasted, so good.



Here's how I fix it.



Lemon & Rosemary Baked Chicken:


1 package chicken breast


2 lemons


Garlic rosemary seasoning


salt and pepper





Heat the lemon in the microwave for about 15 seconds then cut in half and squeeze juice all over both sides of chicken, and sprinkle with the rosemary seasoning. Let sit for about a half hour, in the fridge. Then bake in a 350 degree oven until cooked through, about 40 minutes give or take.









Corny Cornbread muffins:


1 package cornbread mix, I use Jiffy


1/4 cup corn

Prepare cornbread mix according to box. Stir in the corn, more or less to your taste. Pour into prepared muffin tin and bake according to box directions.

These muffins are moist and you get a little more texture with the corn.

Tater Tots for the Tot:
I would like to say these are strictly for the Tot, but I love Tater Tots, it's easier to blame this on the little boy!


Pour tater tots out of the bag and heat in the oven according to the package details. Can't get any easier. I bake these with the chicken, the last 20 minutes of the chickens baking time.







Fried Corn & Little Green Onions:


Frozen corn


3 tablespoons salted butter


enough water to cover the corn


A couple little green onions, chopped





I use frozen corn because it doesn't have any extra sodium. Canned corn has some sodium, even if you rinse it off, some of that sodium will still remain.


Put a couple cups of corn in a sauce pan and cover with water, add the butter and salt and pepper to taste.


I usually don't add salt, since I use salted butter, but whatever you like.....


Let the water boil off until all that remains is the butter and let that fry in the pan a little bit.


After it's fried a bit, turn the eye off and add the chopped onions and let that warm up.





Grandma's Jello Salad:





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. During Easter, I made this and used the Easter shaped marshmallows, that was so cute. 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 go to her house and she tells me she made her jello salad. I cut myself a piece and put it right back in the pan. I go 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 makes the jello again. This time she doesn't add banana's and is happy to tell me that. I go in, and there are some odd looking fruit pieces mixed in with the pineapple, so I ask her what they are, 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.





1 regular package Lemon Jello
1 regular package Orange Jello
1 can crushed pineapple
1 bag mini marshmallows
Orange Juice
2 tbl. sugar
3 tbl. 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





Tonight I didn't have any whipping cream or whipped topping, so I used softened vanilla ice cream, just a large scoop. It mixed in well, and was yummy. How it sets, will be a different story, I'm sure. Guess we'll see!