Inspired by these little gems, a friend and I braved the muddy fields at a u-pick strawberry farm nearby. I quickly discovered that squatting and bending over while 7 months pregnant wasn't the brightest thing I'd ever attempted. In five minutes flat I was gasping for breath like a fish. I know people have told me (my husband included) that I have to slow down, that I have to quit pushing myself so hard for the time being. I find that really, really hard to accept. I'm not used to having to think about it. Usually, if I want to take a walk or a run, I do it. If i want to hike, I do it. If I want to clean my house (hahahaha, right), i just get it done. I hate waiting around to do something. Accepting the limitations of my body right now and even just doing things slllooooowwwweeeerrr has been hard. I honestly don't think about it being too much til I'm already at that point of exhaustion.
But in this case, there were strawberries at stake... and all the things that come with strawberries.... Strawberries and fresh whipped cream! Strawberry ice cream and frozen yogurt! Freezer jam! Regular jam! Pie! Strawberry - rhubarb crumbles! Strawberry vinegar!
So you see, I just couldn't let that strawberry field hold me back.
Ladies and gentlemen, I got on my hands and knees and crawled.
While not the proudest moment of my life, I did come back with 8 (!!) quarts of perfect berry goodness. I'm just glad there was no one else there to see me crawling through the mud. You do what you gotta do, folks.. :)
In baby news, things are going stellar. My body is sucking up huge amounts of insulin like a sponge, which the docs told me tends to happen after 24 weeks. A completely full pump reservoir lasts me about 2 days currently (a half full reservoir used to get me 3+). I have a full fledged bump, no longer able to be mistaken for a beer gut. (Yay! This actually took a lot longer than I expected.) Baby B is 2 pounds and 5 oz, and has fallen from the 90 to the 78th percentile for weight. Which, in our case, is good news! Oh, and she's completely gorgeous, of course. :) No bias here...
So, in honor of strawberry season:
Strawberry Orange Muffins
(From Cooking Light)
1 1/4 cups halved strawberries
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
cooking spray
2 tsp sugar
Preheat oven to 400.
Combine the first four ingredients in a blender or food processor, and process until just blended. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the strawberry mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until just moist. (This looked really dry to me for awhile - I ended up adding about a teaspoon of water to get things to mix.) Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 2 tsp of sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in the center.
Makes: 12 muffins
Per muffin:
Calories - 184
Fat - 4 g
Carbs - 35 g
