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.

Purple Choco' Berry Popsicle or Smoothie, Healthy, low fat!

 Purple Choco' Berry Popsicle or Smoothie, Healthy, low fat!

My son and his best friend were enjoying a very warm day outside.  It was time for lunch.  The battle was on! Trying to get these two to stop playing, long enough to eat, is nearly impossible.  What works best? Bribery.  Yes.  Bribery.

While they were eating their lunch, I started the Popsicle-making process.  They were watching as I put their favorite things in the blender.  I didn't bother telling them that I was using all non-fat dairy products, as well as, no sugar added frozen fruits.  I used honey to sweeten, which added to the bribe. I don't know a lot of kids who don't love honey. I really like buying the frozen berries because the only ingredients are, the berries. No extra sugar, or preservatives.  I don't have to worry about spoilage, very low cost as well.  I use them for many things.  Very versatile, as well as delicious.

Did it work? Beautifully, as you can see.  They thought they were getting a treat by getting a Popsicle.  I knew they were getting lots of good vitamins and minerals to go along with their healthy lunch.


I have a two-Popsicle freezer mold, so I used the remainder of the mixture to make myself an 8oz smoothie.  I put a scoop of my favorite protein powder in it, added ice and more non-fat, organic milk, then enjoyed my own special treat!

Purple Choco' Berry Popsicle or Smoothie, Healthy, low fat

1/2 cup of Low Fat, organic Chocolate milk
1/2 cup of 2% organic white milk
1 cup of low fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup of frozen mixed berries
1 tablespoon honey (more or less to taste)

Place ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth.  Pour into Popsicle molds or add extra milk, water, or (as I did) ice cubes to turn into a smoothie.

You may also want to add some more liquid if you see your mixture is too thick to puree well.  It will freeze anyway, just don't go overboard, so the flavors won't suffer.

If you don't like cottage cheese, yogurt would be a good substitution.  However, I find yogurt to contain such a large amount of sugar that I don't use it frequently, outside of enjoying one serving in a given day.  One teaspoon of sugar is about 4.2 grams.  The drinkable yogurt we have has 14grams of sugar in a 3.1fl oz bottle, that is roughly equivalent to, 3 teaspoons of sugar. There are benefits to yogurt, but as with anything, too much of a good thing is not good.  Let me also point out, that the cottage cheese is not identifiable in the finished product.  The flavors are so beautifully compatible, it doesn't make a huge difference.

Boneless Beef Ribs, Roasted Little Red Potatoes, Baked Beans, Lemon and Orange Jello Cake

I haven't blogged in a few days, because my little boy and my husband have been sick. Monday, my little boy's stomach was upset. This resulted in my having to change sheets, and do an extra load of laundry or two. Blankey got soiled and this caused the little fella' to be really upset, thank goodness we have an extra! Monday night, my husband came home from work and his cold was a lot worse than it had been the night before. So, I had to take care of two sick guys. Our dinner was fried chicken from the deli, with dill & red potato salad. The little guy had peaches, and a Popsicle.
Tuesday I did post the recipe to my favorite food in the world, Beef Roll ups. It wasn't much of a hit with my two sick guys, but I enjoyed them very much. I didn't watch closely enough and I let all the water simmer out of the pot, which meant my roll ups were a little more "done" than I would have liked. But that is a learning lesson, and they were still good. The baby was feeling better, but still not eating really good. He had a little potato salad, and strawberry's, blueberry's and crackers. He loves fruit, thank goodness!
Wednesday we had homemade chicken noodle soup, with grilled salami, cheese and tomato sandwiches. The little boys stomach was feeling better, but now he has a cold. He ate grilled tortilla and cheese, chopped up tomatoes, and some strawberries. He's been drinking a lot of fluids, which is really good, he needs to stay hydrated. We had a little bit of ice cream for desert, covered in blueberries.
Last night, we had some more fried chicken, the rest of the potato salad and broccoli. The baby ate all of his broccoli, a little bit of chicken and most of his potato salad. He's so stuffy and runny that it's hard for him to eat. I hate for him to be sick, I hope he'll feel better very soon.
So, here we are, on Friday. My husband is feeling a lot better, but the little boy is not. He took a 45 minute nap today, and doesn't seem to want to rest at all. I hope he'll eat better tonight, so far he's not had much of an appetite, except for cookies.....hmmmmmmmmm
I have some boneless ribs in the fridge. My brother makes the best ribs I've ever had, but I don't have the rub he uses, so I looked in my spice cabinet. I found some Caribbean Blackening spices, some Garlic powder and Lawry's seasoning salt. I poured some of each into a zip lock bag and added some freshly, cracked black pepper. I added the ribs and rubbed the seasonings in really good. It's been such a beautiful day, I think I'll turn the grill on and grill them up. About 30 minutes or more before I put them on the grill, I'll take the ribs out and let them get to room temperature. They cook more evenly when they are at room temperature.
I've never tried to make the Jello Cake, but I watched either my Mom or Sister do it once, so I think I can do it. I'm using a box cake mix, Lemon flavored. After it's baked I will let it cool, then poke holes in it and pour the Jello over it and put in the fridge until we are ready to eat it. I'm actually going to bake half into a cake and the other half into cup cakes. Just for fun! I have those silicone cupcake baking cups, with feet. So I can decorate the cupcakes to look like fun little monsters. I think the baby will really enjoy that, I know his Daddy and I will!
I'm going to quarter the little red potatoes, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle some of the same seasonings over them, that I used on the ribs. Then bake in the oven until they are crispy and delicious. I may even add some Parmesan cheese over them when they are done. Sounds good to me! Guess we'll see. I'll let you know. Bye for now, I'm going to see if the baby will take a nap now.