Berry Muffins

Last week, BF's mom gave us a large basket of fresh strawberries that she'd picked at a local farm. We started out eating the berries with light whipped cream for dessert after both lunch and dinner every day, but between the two of us, we were barely making a dent in the basket.

So I started searching for muffin recipes.

I don't bake very often, but I know the basics. The first recipe called for one teaspoon of salt. I thought that it sounded like a heck of a lot of salt, and sure enough it tasted more like a bag of potato chips than a berry-liscious baked good.

After much trial and error, and many of my own tweaks to recipes that I found, I think I've discovered a tasty, low-fat, healthy muffin. Note that these are not overly sweet - they're meant to be more of a breakfast muffin.

Anyway, I thought I would share it here for those who like to bake their own goodies.

I calculate that these are about 23 g of carb each (using strawberries), with 2 g of fibre.

2/3 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. rolled oats (I used the quick-cooking kind)
1/4 c. brown sugar Splenda (or 1/2 cup real brown sugar, which will add 5 g carb per muffin)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup milk (I used skim)
1 egg (I used fat-free liquid egg substitute)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups of your favourite berry

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl (except berries). Mix liquid ingredients in another bowl. Add dry to liquid and mix. Fold in berries. Fill muffin tray (makes 12 muffins). Bake for 20-25 minutes at 425 F.

We are now almost out of strawberries. I think I'm going to try blueberries next!

Doctor My Eyes

This morning I had my annual eye exam.

Dr. M is one of my favourite people. We've known each other since I was born (she went to school with my oldest sister). When she became an optometrist, I was excited to be one of her first patients. I always look forward to seeing her, it's more like visiting an old friend.

Until today. Today was all business.

Ok, that's not true. We spent about 60% of the visit chatting about our families in between questions of which line of scrambled letters I could see clearest, and which is better - this lens or that lens?

Then she put in those damn eye drops. You know the ones I'm talking about. Within 15 minutes my pupils were large and I looked like I'd indulged in some illegal substances.

She shone various lights at my eyes and scanned for broken blood vessels.

First the left eye. "Gorgeous, darling".

Then the right eye. "Looking lovely, girl..."

Her voice trailed off and I heard her mutter a soft "hmmm..."

I saw the bright yellow line stop and scan back and forth, over and over in the same spot.

She said there is a light hemmorage in my right eye.
She said to try not to worry, that often they clear up on their own.
She said if it was at the outside of my eye, she wouldn't be as concerned, but it is toward the center of my vision.
She scheduled a follow up next month to recheck.
She said that if it hasn't gone away, I'll need to see a specialist.

I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I don't think I'm scared or worried. I mean, I AM... a little... but I guess I've decided to not let it get to me until next month when I have more information.

I think, more than anything else, I'm a bit peeved since my control has been so much better these past two years. As if my eyes would do this to me now, the nerve!

Anyway, hopefully it will resolve itself. All I can really do is wait and see what happens.