Paleo Cherry Cobbler

Ger and Cassie are gearing up for the Great Lakes Invitational with clean eating and serious training. I wanted to have a "dessert" tonight that would be delicious AND nutritious AND incredibly good for you.....so it had to be cherries.

Did you know cherries:
1. Ease pain (like from arthritis, gout, and WEIGHT-LIFTING)
2. Are full of vitamins
3. Lower blood pressure
4. Fight cancer
5. help you SLEEP

Here's what I did:
I measured 6 cups of frozen cherries and put them into a 9 x 12 baking dish. (I'm imagining how good this will be with fresh cherries this summer.....) They thawed a little while I made the cobbler part.

In a bowl, I stirred up the following ingredients with a fork:

1/3 cup local honey (if you use raw honey, you might want to warm it a bit so it will mix better)
2/3 cup unblanched almond flour (but blanched would be fine)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 cup organic coconut milk from a can
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg

I put this mixture on top of the cherries by big spoonfuls.

In a small glass dish I melted 4 TBSP pasture butter (Kerry Gold, from grass fed cows) and then poured it over the top of the cobbler. See?

I put it into a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. Oh. My. Goodness. Ger says this one is really, really good. (and really good for you!) 

Cassie has started a blog and I hope you check it out. She's a very fine writer. SassPoff - the perfect blend!
Here's the link:

http://sasspoff.wordpress.com/2013/12/28/pr-week/

Cherry Juice Concentrate

It's fresh cherry season and everyone should be eating fresh cherries while they are cheaper, BUT this is another choice. Many people buy "cherry juice" and don't read the ingredients list. That stuff could be 85% apple juice with other things in there, like sugar, and just a little cherry juice for flavoring. Even 100% cherry juice has the issue of the environment - more glass or plastic to recycle.

So, this is cherry juice concentrate. You dilute it with water and drink it. I have been putting it in my vanilla protein shakes and it's really good!
I order it from vitacost.com. (give me your email so I can refer you to their site - we will both get a $10 reward!)

So, why cherries and cherry juice, anyway? Because they help you not to hurt.

I have a lovely marinade on this blog that uses this cherry juice concentrate on Venison Butterfly Loin. Use the search box. The marinade works with many meats but is especially good at taming the "wild" taste in game meats.

" After years in the shadow of other fruit, tart cherries are emerging as a major Super Fruit. A substantial and growing body of scientific research has linked tart cherries to anti-inflammatory benefits, reduced pain from gout and arthritis and an extensive list of heart health benefits. Recent studies even suggest tart cherries can help reduce post-exercise muscle and joint pain."

This comes from choosecherries.com/health. 
The article "Benefits of Eating Cherries" on livestrong.com names also talks about cherries having an anti-aging benefit, cancer prevention, weight loss, pain relief, and DID YOU KNOW that cherries have melatonin and can help with your sleep cycles? They contain boron which helps with bone health, too! ( now, that's dear to my heart!)

So, Come on, my friends, eat some beautiful fresh cherries while you can, and keep the juice around, too. It's a superfruit!