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Homemade Paleo Blackberry Jam is easy to make, and free of artificial sugar or sweeteners and preservatives. Enjoy some jelly made with whole foods!
Here is the next recipe in my homemade jam series. This Paleo Blackberry jam is one of my favorites. You get that small bit of tartness with the sweetness, and it tastes great with some freshly ground almond butter!
There is natural pectin from the lemon juice, which will help the jam to set, but it may need to cook for a little longer than normal jams to thicken.
- 2 cups blackberries
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup honey
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In a saucepan over medium heat, add the berries, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until they have broken down and started to gel.
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Add the honey and lemon and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the sauce has started to thicken.
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Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
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Remove from heat and place into a glass jar. Refrigerate and consume within 3 weeks.
~Journal entry below~
I know I mentioned I had been injured a couple of months ago, but I don’t think I explained the cause. I had been having a sharp, stabbing pain since March in my lower right abdomen area. Thinking it was related to cysts, I visited a doctor with concern since it was pretty painful for a couple months, coming and going intermittently. She said it was too low to be cyst related, and thought it was an inguinal hernia. So I visited another doctor, a surgeon, who said he could not feel anything and told me that I most likely tore a ligament or muscle in that area, and that I should rest it and not do any core or lower body exercise for at least a month, only walking.
So I took a month and a half off of crossfit and went back to doing sets of exercises at the gym. I hated it and felt like I was losing strength, but wanted to heal quickly so I could get back at it.
A month later, I was feeling better and decided to start crossfitting again. I had lost some strength and cardio, but I was glad to be back.
But the pain came back, so I scheduled a visit with another doctor to get a different opinion.
She then sent me to a GYN to get an ultrasound done, which found a cyst on my left side, but nothing of consequence on my right. She then referred me to get a CT Scan. So I did.
And finally, I got a result that made sense.
I had a 3mm non-obstructing kidney stone.
A kidney stone! I know it’s better to be safe than sorry, but I was a little frustrated that I had taken a month and a half off from crossfit, and lost all of that strength, because I had a kidney stone.
After doing some research, and talking to some people who have had similar problems, it made sense that that was what was causing my problems. Although it is non-obstructing, it can cause pain when it is on the move. And sometimes people don’t pass them, but they will move back up, and that will cause the pain I’m feeling. I called my doctor’s office to ask what it is that I should do and if they had treatment for me, and they told me that the doctor thought it was unlikely that it would cause me pain for that long, and to drink a lot of water and it should pass.
Well, I drink at least a gallon of water a day and drink apple cider vinegar, you’d think that I would have passed it by now, right? But when I was browsing forums, I saw that some people have had a kidney stone for years. One person even had the same one for 17 years! The doctor said if it was still bothering me in 4-6 weeks I can schedule another visit with her. Although it is not constant, the pain still bothers me at least once every week or two.
I am unsure of what to do now. At least I can exercise again and it doesn’t hurt it more. I’d like to pass this thing and get rid of it. At this point, I am tired of going to the doctor because I have been so many times without any good answers. I guess we’ll see how I feel!
