Blueberry cobbler is a dessert that can be made with low-sugar and no butter. And this one is made from unsweetened applesauce as a substitute.
This is also a blueberry recipe that can be made all healthy with no-added sugar (only blueberry and apple 🍏🫐), and all gluten-free if you want.
You can super easy mix this in one bowl and in less than 30 minutes from start to finish (prep and bake). 🏁
Pre-heat the oven to 325°F/165°C while you’re gathering your ingredients.
It’s that simple…
And with just 5 primary ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen: flour, applesauce, frozen blueberries, maple syrup, and milk.
The star ingredient is the blueberries. I’m wild about the wild ones (…you too?).
Blueberries are super healthy foods with their anti-inflammatory eat-from-the-rainbow polyphenols 🌈 Anthocyanin flavanoids are also found in blackberries that can be added or substituted in this dessert.
Berries paired with applesauce is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and fiber… and you’ll taste all that natural goodness in a blueberry cobbler dessert.
Fruit cobblers came from England and word got around and traveled to the U.S. southern states where it’s a dessert staple.
And that’s where I made this simple and healthy blueberry cobbler version.
The mixed batter will look like pancake batter if that makes you happy!
And it reminds me of the batter I made for my first blueberry muffin pan. That was the first dessert I ever made as a teen. I remember the box with the small aluminum can of blueberries inside that was cracked open with a can opener.
Those baking memories inspired me later on to make more blueberry inspired desserts like blueberry pancakes. And then blueberry became wildly popular as a touted super food.
And if you use frozen blueberries, you don’t have to drain or take out in advance. You can just add them from out of the freezer. And you always have them available like ingredients in your pantry (like applesauce that’s also a great item to always have on hand).
I like how they leave a little blueberry streak as they defrost.
You can even make a blueberry swirl pattern if you like by slightly squishing the blueberries as they warm up to room temps, and then taking a knife to swirl the juice.
But there’s nothing a full on blueberry look… it’s dramatic and you can make no mistake… it’s blueberry!
Tropical smoothie is one you can make at home with passion and tropical fruits like dragon fruit we now have access to in our Western grocery stores.
Like I’ve seen beautiful dragon fruit that’s a relatively new find in the Western hemisphere. The fruit’s outside vibrant pink and green color gives off the tropical (orchid?) look. It’s also called Pitaya that means “scaly fruit” and not scary fruit as it’s very pretty like a tight rose.
But, surprise (!) it’s not what it looks like inside…
Blend in a smoothie, it does do as the dragon fruit taste is so subtle (almost tasteless) and smooth in a smoothie with dragon fruit, passion fruit, and pineapple. 🍍
But you don’t taste the dragon fruit.
And like Houdini magic, you don’t even see it either… the dragon fruit disappears as you saw that it’s distinctly whitish with black seeds.
Dragon fruit, passion fruit, and pineapple tropical smoothie blend. 🍍🪷
…But invisible dragon fruit is quickly becoming a common tropical fruit. And makes a good choice to add to our tropical smoothie drinks 🌅 since we can find the fruit in our stores.
And you know what that means: fruit abundance equals price drop.
This hand-picked tropical fruit was under $3 and I remember its fruit siblings as over $5 just a few short months ago. It even has its own 3040 PLU sticker and number, making it a common produce. 💕
So you can add to your anti-inflammatory morning routine, breakfast parfait, or break-fait to take a break.
But first you have to crack into the stunning looking soft magenta and pineapple green streak fruit exterior.
…When you cut inside, you see the magenta flaming color even brighter than the outside.
Inside has a lot of pink color drama going on. 💄Looks like yummy fine silks. And feels slippery like an orchid’s petals.
When you finally get deep down into the fruit center, you’ll see the stark color and pattern contrast.
It’s like a dice color pattern design. Nature is so clever.
…And you can cut them into game playing dice shapes for your edible creations! How fun is that. 🎲
Whether you slip them into your dragon fruit tropical smoothie or assemble in a parfait, it’s a fun treat.
And a healthy one full of fiber (beating strawberries 🍓) that’s good for losing weight goals. And full of C and B vitamins.
…And when paired with passion fruit, it’s off the fruit charts!
In addition to a tropical smoothie, you can also build a tropical parfait.
How to Play the Parfait Game (or Build a Parfait)
This is a game where you end up eating what you make with your dragon fruit dice. 🎲🎲
It’s a lot more rewarding than playing a game of Parcheesi that can take hours. It takes prep minutes and you can play with one or more players. 😊
So let’s begin…
Rule of thumbfor parfait (that I like to use): add one layer of Greek yogurt at the bottom.
That becomes your base.
Bottom layer: And then add two star ingredients (or hero flavor ingredients as Paul Hollywood would say on the Great British Bake Off if he were here critiquing).
…Be bold, choose visually contrasting food ingredients in color and/or texture. You can even choose kiwi or a star fruit which was popular during my catering days. That can also go in your tropical smoothie.
Dragon fruit is an interesting choice.
I chose blueberries for the dark moody blue contrast, and you can sub with any bright berries for a pop! 🫐
Making micro choices like this is fun and relaxing… it’s playing creative dress up with your food. Then it’s not like work.
Moving on, next add another layer of the primer or Greek yogurt white base.
Middle layer: And then add another layer of one of the star ingredients already used, and introduce another fruit or new ingredient.
In this case, banana slices. 🍌
I could keep building layers, but by this point I’m running out of space in the glass. If I had a trifle bowl to work with, I’d add another layer.
Top layer: Then for the very top layer I call the zhugh layer, add your textures like nuts and seeds. I like walnuts and flax seeds for this one.
Chia seeds would be dramatic too.
It’s your dreamy parfait, so you can dream up your parfait desires into reality!
The other tip I have is to make two for yourself. So if you’re making for a couple, then make 4. Easy math…
Or roll the dragon fruit dice, and see what fun number you get. It will be at least uno “1” for each dice. 😊
The reason I make one extra is because then you can enjoy again. The next day. And the same for a tropical smoothie.
This is a good smoothie for breaking a fast…
It has protein (yogurt or milk for a smoothie), carb (fruit), and fat (nuts and seeds) all in one.
Tropical Smoothie with Dragon Fruit, Passion Fruit, and Pineapple
This is a tropical smoothie you can now make at home and not travel to the tropics or a smoothie place to get!
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Ingredients
1Dragon fruit, diced (they actually look like dice!)
1Pineapple (fresh or canned)
Passion fruit, diced
maple syrup (optional)
milk of choice (coconut milk suggested)
Instructions
Blend up your tropical fruits and add about a 1/4 cup milk to 1 cup milk. Add more milk as desired for a thin or thick smoothie. To add more or less sweetness, add or reduce pineapple and/or maple syrup.
For a foam top, you can use the thicker part of coconut milk to create.
Notes
This will work with coconut water, but will be thinner and you can add pureed fruit or small fruit chunks to thicken.
Healthy donut does exist in a donut peach. These are a new kind of peach.
These peaches are glazed with egg white, honey, unsweetened coconut, and melted dark cacao.
Taking a bite in, this is clearly a peach and not a floured donut (in case you were in doubt)! 😊
These peaches are also known as Saturn peaches and flat peaches. 🪐
Overhead, they look the same as regular peaches. You can eat these as plain whole fruit too!
Have you seen these before at the grocery stores?
You may have seen them come in a package of four.
I think they’re slightly sweeter than most peaches I’ve had. And have less juicy pulp.
But make no mistake, they still taste sweet like peaches.
And if you want to kick it up a notch, I have a neat way to prepare them so they can be a baked and healthy low-sugar “donut” dessert and sweet snack (instead of reaching for a real heavy donut! 🍩).
The first step is to cook the donut peaches.
If you skip this part and only bake them, the skin on the peach donuts will dry out some and they will be darker in color because the peach naturally starts off darker in color.
When cooking is added as a step, the peaches lose their vibrant peach skin color and turn warm-ish brown color (more like a Krispy Kreme donut or a whole wheat donut color).
…Which btw, if that distracted you and donuts are a missing hole in your life, try a healthier and traditional donut that you can make as a low-sugar donut hole made with whole wheat flour.
And getting back to the peach healthy donut, after cooking you can set-and-forget bake for a few minutes until it’s time to glaze.
To glaze, I like the opaque look of egg white and water. They remind me of cinnamon swirl donuts I had when I was younger. Plus egg whites are healthy.
Tip: When separating your egg, do it first when it’s easier out of a cold fridge temperature. Refrigerate your yolks and save to make bearnaise sauce, ice cream, and/or lemon curd are some of my faves.
Let peaches ripen at room temperature until they're about a day away from soft eating. Then cook in simmering water to soften. Time will vary depending on how ripe your peach is to begin with. The original peach color will change. This step can take about 20-30 minutes.
Bake on 300°F for about 20 more minutes. Again time will vary based on ripeness and how long you cook from the first step.
Make the glaze: Whisk egg white and water together at room temperature.
Use a brush to coat the peaches in the oven and then about 10 minutes in, re-coat. Keep adding glaze coats until you get the opaque white color you like.
Add any zhugh like sprinkles or crumbles when the top coat is still wet. You can also add maple syrup or honey after they cool and then zhugh (or zhugh again).
Muse is a word that I find amusing. I’ll tell you why… it’s about a person, but one that you can’t see. So it’s imaginary, but I know it’s not from my life experiences where a muse is real.
This unreal muse is the most photographed woman in the world. 🧜♀️
The muse I believe is love and unlike humans (including ourselves), doesn’t act outside of love.
Because it comes from a perfect place …not Earth, that’s imperfect.
And while I have my version, I’m a magnet to hear how others describe and see a muse in their lives…
Especially writers who often talk about an inspirational muse in the room when they’re writing. Some even call them angels, elves, and intelligence like Author Steven Pressfield.
And Stephen King who’s also gifted at providing imagery through words where he describes a muse as “he’s a basement type of guy.”
…Maybe you have to be named Steve to get this gifting? 😊
Kidding aside, I learned who my real muse is in my quiet time.
When I was by myself and happen to be writing, having someone in the quiet space I was working in who helped and inspired me… and well, is not such a bad thing.
…So I wholeheartedly agree that a divine and inspiring muse sits with any of us when we get quiet enough… and is invited in to join the party.
This becomes meaningful inspiration when creating something.
Early on when I started blogging, I had a divine intervention that let me know who my muse is in a deeper (life changing) way.
It was a parallel season where inspiration aligned with the divine intervention.
And so my perspectives are based on that very real life experience that played out.
And back then, my muse was a voice inside me that whispered.
…But not faintly in the air like a passing thought. The muse was clearly audible to me as though outside of me but was inside my thoughts.
And this occurred all day and night until I fell asleep for weeks.
…Strange, I know.
But so is life, yes??
…If you think about it.
…Everything is a miracle.
Just look in the mirror at the person staring back with body parts intact or look out at nature busy at work day and night.
And the longer you’re here on the planet, the more you get to see the patterns in your life that make sense out of the organized chaos happening around you.
You can gain and use those wisdoms to a better life than the one you started with.
Connecting dots, you realize that there are odd circumstances that are unique to your life and smartly see how they help you. Some are coincidences that beat the odds.
…And this is to help you get to your purposes and destiny.
It’s meant to be discovered.
On our own, we could easily mess up what could and should be ours. I know I would.
The luck, coincidences, and supernatural happenings we experience are unexplainable, but meant to help you see or do something special with it.
…Like finding your muse and living out your life purpose.
And if you’re not there yet, don’t worry it’ll come if you’re looking.
Try to connect-the-dots often and it can happen sooner.
Sit quietly.
Get curious and try connecting-even-more-dots… that have the answers.
And so you can benefit from intelligence insight downloaded to you (from external) that isn’t just what most think of as our brain’s intelligence.
From my divine inspiration experience, I believe (and I know) there are life forces beyond us helping orchestrate and co-create our lives in the background that were here long before we were.
We have the opportunity to live a 4-d life (manifesting abundantly and creating beyond us) if we let go of what doesn’t serve us, so we can tap into what does.
The good forces are a helping hand that are happy to co-create with us.
We get divine inspiration (inside of us). Then when we take action, we’re acting in co-creation.
But then there’s also the bad forces influencing us from the inside. It’s dangerous because it’s invisible to us (like the good forces).
But the bad forces are doing damage and louder in our minds if we allow like the Blind Ego you may have heard about living in our subconscious.
So I like to think of the good forces more like a higher soaring Eagle. It’s Eagle vs. ego.
When you purposefully make the eagle visible daily, then that’s when things get good in your life. 🦅
And you get all of this if you believe in and study Creation (like I do).
If everyone got intent enough to grow this spiritual type of self-awareness in them as a personal life mission, the world would be a Better Place.
Because each person would be better.
Individuals would be aware of what they put out that’s not just their work outputs, outward acts, and appearances.
People would emit less chaos from the get-go, bypassing going through costly trial-and-error lessons learned that others feel.
And following life’s organized ways that we didn’t come up with, they would be the best version of themselves.
And if this is befuddling to you… have you ever met a person who has different sides that when you ask others what they think of this person, it’s a completely different story than what you know?
…Almost like a good and dark person side. And sometimes that’s hidden from others until it’s too late. They leave a wake in the ocean.
That’s the type of chaos I’m talking about… but that awareness can help prevent.
The chaos comes from the ego and fear in people showing up.
“The ego” is almost like another person if it grows.
Young adults on their own are super susceptible as they’re far from seeing yet and are able to make their own decisions.
And if it weren’t for the good forces, I honestly don’t know if I would still be here from all the dumb moves I did early on.
But for those of us here, our egos can get stroked and that can quickly become a tangled mess.
…Like a heated debate or a myriad mess of twisted passive-aggressive moves.
But the mess can be bypassed if both sides are keenly aware and choose peace and kindness (as the best demonstrated behaviors).
Love and kindness is still the answer.
That shows up as humility.
And inviting in our muse to daily living helps us to calm down from the chaos around and in us.
Chaos happens between people (unaware) or shows up as self-sabotage (Impostor) thoughts.
In co-creation with the good forces (like our muse), we can bypass chaos.
Because it has never been all up to us.
That’s liberating to know (for me, anyway 😊).
And when I wrote my book Empowered Happiness, I titled my first chapter “Love Yourself First” because I believe when you do that, then love overflows out of you (and you’re running toward the right direction).
And that leads to using more of your higher purposes and superpower gifts.
Inviting in Your Muse For Co-Creation
If you’re aware (…or maybe now informed) of how your muse and these mysterious ways work in your favor, you can then become intent to grow more of this.
Inviting in your higher muse can be the bridge.
It takes external and internal attempts.
When you intentionally (and internally) ask the Universe to help you find your muse, expect to hear back at some point.
When and what you get back externally is not up to you or anyone.
But what you do with the information you get, is up to you.
Sometimes we’re given the same information over and over again, and we miss connecting-the-dots… maybe we’re busy, we half-believe, or we allow our dark side (or self-sabotage) to take over.
That sends mixed messages.
So then you’re not ready yet to get what’s being sent.
But if you practice managing thoughts and moods, you get better at this.
Because managing thoughts is a golden key to unlocking your best life. 🔑
It’s a skill that we’re not taught growing up… but the sooner learned, the better our life outcomes are!
Because at any moment, chaos can kick back in.
And you can kick it out.
Practicing regular and daily interference is the answer… walking away from those non-serving thoughts (and lies!) that drag you down.
Re-writing the mind’s script is not meant to be a secret, but it is a life mystery.
And can stay hidden.
To improve this: focus on a positive attitude, consciously show authentic love to others (and to self) because that’s what the Universe here before us wants and still rewards.
Your muse will help guide you to your calling purpose in this life.
Where you do have creativity!
If you can dream, you can wildly create. And discover hidden talents. I know this because I’m living proof.
And in your gifts and talents, you’ll get pointed to inspiration where none existed before.
Just remember to seek out your muse to co-create.
Or write yourself a daily reminder.
And those ways are still easier than creating something you don’t have inspiration for… yet.
Positive attitude (aka optimism) has always been the better way to make good things happen in life. But so often, easier said than done.
Like when dropping a box of spaghetti where you can look at it as an extra chore… or spending a few minutes playing a fun game of pick-up sticks.
But it’s easier to magnify our natural responses, complaining, and being with the realities of life.
Where you maybe mutter something that doesn’t help the situation.
It’s an automatic response…
But automatic responses can be changed like past phases (and phrases you used) going through life.
They were place holders until you found a better way for your snap!uh-oh situations.
…Where those and anything in life could change your mood in an instant.
And when you run into those sudden moments, you can practice your better ways.
Use those as prompts to change your auto-reactions to situations.
That helps to shape your positive attitude.
And enrich what you want to grow in your life, like your opportunities and relationships…
Which btw, have you ever noticed that leaders and successful people are positive and motivational?
It helps them and then others are attracted to them.
But like all of us, they’re not always happy… but a positive attitude also helps them to reach deeper within for answers. And rise above what could drag them down.
That can go either way.
And it’s not the situation they get that’s the downfall… it’s their attitude that can make or break what happens next.
It’s the positive attitude that carries them through and over the hump.
Their positive beliefs turn into good reality.
And in turn, they become what they believe when they look in a mirror.
And if what you believe is positive, growing, and happy then, that’s where you’ll go-al. 🎯
So finding the positive out of negative situations is still the answer to success, but getting there isn’t always easy.
One good way to grow that area is you can choose to find the comedy in life-in-play situations and laugh more… with a positive attitude (that’s not cynical).
Then by laughing, you’re spreading joy that’s positively contagious.
…I’m serious.
It helps to gain a reality check.
…Is it really that bad?
It’s usually not as bad as the moment of impact.
And having a positive attitude to survive the moment is everything.
Because most situations move on and become a memory.
And I know myself what it’s like to have to change the attitude side and run 180 degrees in the opposite direction from my initial thought reactions.
…Because cynical and sarcastic was the realistic culture I grew up in. And was probably what you grew up in if you lived on watching television sitcoms before the turn of the century.
Realistic was pessimistic.
And the word attitude used alone meant you copped an attitude where more words added could cause trouble.
People didn’t know they had an attitude until it was brought to their attention.
That zeitgeist wasn’t set up yet for mindset shifts, daily enlightenment, meditation, and quiet time that today are times to look forward to… and maybe even get a little excited about! 🎉
Today, thankfully attitude is reframed into more positive attitudes.
People are much more conscious and will forwardly say, my attitude is: __________.
An easy way to test your own attitude (and practice) is to see how you view the daily weather.
In climate change days, most of us are often tested as the weather can re-route our day’s activities and how productive we are.
If the daily weather is not so favorable and you have to change your plans you were looking forward to, how do you view that?
…Does it make you sad, disappointed, or discouraged? Or do you see it as a way to step into possibly better plans?
If you adopt the latter, then you become less stuck in your ways… more nimble, and open to what life could bring in your favor at any moment.
Flipping the script is how you rewrite the thoughts in the situational moments.
…And thrive in your day.
And one day at a time becomes your life.
So changing to positive attitudes in your life helps you for the rest of your life. …Making responses automatic and letting those healthy ways penetrate deep down in your core.
…Where you bypass negative emotions and bridge straight toward the positive and loving thoughts and feelings.
I know this because that’s what I practiced in life situations to be the better version of myself. 🙋🏻♀️
This week, when the power unexpectedly went out for a few hours because of a hurricane storm that came up the coast, I discovered a new coffee shop. And from that small re-route, I may have a new potential partner to work with.
And another example this week was I had a ticketed event and found out that it wasn’t what I thought it would be.
So I ended up re-routing myself to a store where I met new friends.
👉 But the main lesson here is that before I let any of those two sour situations affect me, my attitude was automatically re-routed to a good place. My auto-thought now is: there’s a good reason for this… and I don’t know yet what that is, but the day will play out and I will figure it out.
And that’s because of the practice I had been doing leading up those events.
So now that I did that practice, I also believe that good things are rigged for my favor.
If you too believe that for your life, and that your re-routes are to help you, then you can bypass frustration feelings and look for more good in your day.
And in return, your energy radiates as attractive to the world. 🎉
So if this sounds good to you and you’d like to grow more of a positive attitude (to be the better version of yourself), this is one attitude habit you can practice daily…
Anytime you catch yourself complaining or have a complaining thought, try to catch that right away.
It might take a few tries in the beginning like any new habit and natural way, but (by being self-aware) eventually you’ll be able to change that.
👉 What’s tricky is that most of us are self-aware about our attitudes in the places we’re already aware of… but the ones we’re not (e.g. ego blind), those are the ones we want to change for out better lives.
We’re blind to what we don’t see.
So those areas take more effort to discover.
But if you practice in the small daily stuff like your weather re-route attitudes and hearing yourself complain-talk, then they become visible.
They become your natural way one situation at a time. And you can change your overall attitude.
And with a positive attitude, you get to focus on bigger, brighter, and better things!
