The fruits of my berry-picking labor this weekend! It is indeed possible to make a tasty cake or loaf without using any butter, oil, or pure granulated sugar. Picky eater (a.k.a. Ted) approved – although he had no idea, until now, what all I put into this recipe – but he liked it! Dense, and not too sweet, a refreshing summer breakfast or dessert for picky eaters and health-conscious people alike…bon appetit!
Healthy Lemon-Blueberry Loaf
3/4 cups white flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup low-fat yogurt (I used 3/4 cup CarbMaster’s vanilla and 1/4 cup Greek honey yogurt – though lemon flavored yogurt would also work nicely)
1/2 cup agave nectar
3/4 cup Egg Beaters (or other egg substitute)
3 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups fresh blueberries rolled in 1 Tbsp. of flour
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice mixed with 1 tsp. of agave nectar
Spray a 8.5 x 4.25 x 2.5 loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and preheat oven to 350°. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt into one bowl. Combine yogurt, agave, egg beaters, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and applesauce together in a separate bowl. Whisk the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Roll the blueberries in a tablespoon of flour and gently fold into the batter. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until golden. Meanwhile, combine the lemon juice and 1 tsp. of agave nectar and heat on the stove. After you pull the loaf out of the oven poke holes into the top of the loaf using a toothpick or cake tester. Pour the lemon juice and agave nectar mix over the loaf, allowing the lemon juice to sink into the holes. Remove loaf from pan, allow to cool, and garnish with fresh blueberries and lemon wedges.
Ted was out of town Thursday-Saturday for a theatre conference in New Philadelphia, Ohio while I stayed behind in Cincy to work my last day at the museum after a year-and-a-half (bittersweet!) and to continue running Next to Normal shows. Ted managed to stay safe amid the raging storms this weekend, dodging three tornadoes that touched down within several miles of his hotel and a house across the street from the hotel that was struck by lighting. Though both the New Philadelphia area where he was and the Cincinnati area where I was endured some pretty forceful winds (up to 60 mph), sand storms, flying debris, downed trees, and power outages, power was restored to Ted’s hotel after 9 hours of no lights, no a/c, and utter boredom, which is just plain lucky considering many parts of Ohio witnessed a ton of damage and won’t have power for another week yet. Anyhow, he’s back home, all safe and sound.
While Ted was away I spent Saturday morning blackberry and blueberry picking at a farm in Milford.
After two hours of early morning picking, I walked away with the pride of having picked our own food, a bundle of fat blackberries, and hundreds of sweet blueberries – a few handfuls of which quickly found there way into a homemade healthy blueberry lemon loaf later that afternoon (recipe forthcoming!), and nearly the rest of which found their way into Ted’s mouth shortly thereafter.
Then I stopped at the library to stock up on some juicy summer reads for the first half of camp…and took a nap.
Sunday after the matinee performance we closed Next to Normal, and to celebrate the closing of a fantastic production, the earning of my last four equity membership candidate points (!!!), and the beginning of my one whole week of freedom from any and all jobs before I head to camp, we enjoyed the wind and rain of a summer evening storm rolling through, stopped by the new Smash Burger joint nearby to try out their burgers and fries, treated ourselves to Dairy Queen blizzards and peanut buster parfaits, and redboxed We Bought A Zoo. The burgers at Smash Burger were good (though I’m not inclined to waste my calories on “good” burgers – only outstanding ones – I’m looking at you Kopp’s, Butterbees, and Culver’s!) but the Smash Fries seasoned with garlic, rosemary, olive oil, and sea salt were out of this world awesome! I have a bad feeling that I’m going to crave them – often. They really were that good.
We Bought A Zoo was pretty great too. I’d highly recommend renting it for a movie night this summer.
They crayddlers are still growing by leaps and bounds. You can tell they’re getting chunky because they start to look like this:
Does this shell make me look fat?
When they look like they’re wearing a sweater 3 sizes too small (see the white-ish gap between their body and tail?), it means they’ve gotten too big for their current shell and need to molt it, resulting in this:
A fully formed cray molt (at the back of the tank). When they molt they shimmy out of the shell that surrounds their eyes, antennas, pinchers, legs, body and tail, which is really cool and really creepy all at once. It’s kind of frightening seeing that in the tank, thinking you’ve lost a cray, until you realize that it’s just a molt.
Happily and sadly, the crayddlers, all sixteen of them, are thriving and are therefore getting too big and too boldly mannered to live comfortably and harmoniously in the same tank, so we’ll be parting with ten of them today. I’m really bummed about this, as I want nothing more to than to be able to keep and raise all of sweet Mav’s babes, but we know it’s best for their health, growth, and happiness if they have more individual space. We’ve found an excellent aquarium and local fish shop in Cincinnati owned by a pair of brothers who take great care of their fish and are very kind-hearted and knowledgeable. They will be the new home for our most of our porkchops. We stopped by last week to check out the accommodations and they have several marvelous, sizable, planted aquariums that I think our crays will be very happy in. I’m sad to have any to let them go, but I know it’s for the best.
Other than that, I’m taking this full week off to finish my camp choreography, lesson plans, preparations and packing, taking the car in for its check-up and some light repair work in preparation for the road trip, to do fun summery things, to sleep, and to spend some quality time with Ted before I leave for Michigan. I’ll try to pop by a few times this week, and of course I’ll have internet access at camp for the purposes of occasional blogging, though I do intend to spend much of my time up there unplugged and enjoying the peace of the great outdoors, just as a word of warning.
They’ve been up to the usual…tearing about the tank at warp speed, scaling plants, scaling heaters, scaling air hoses, lounging on the slate, basking on plants, eating the plants, ripping the leaves off the plants, hoarding food, swimming backwards, stretching, growing, molting, eating, growing, molting, eating, terrorizing each other, playing tag, playing chase, running laps around the tank, moving gravel, more eating, more terrorizing, more scaling, more basking, more molting, more swimming, more stretching, more hoarding, more tearing, more growing…more being adorable.
Maybe if I carry this piece of food in my teeth all the way up to the top of this plant, nobody will steal it from me!I am king, and I am glorious.Trying zucchini for the first time! I’m still a little uncertain about it, but I ate some of it. Mama says we’ve graduated to big cray food now – bring on the shrimp and peas!
Love those crafty crayddlers!
My favorite little guys…what a blessing they are :-)
This week I’ve been all over “overnight oats” made with chia seeds – a breakfast food phenomenon that’s been sweeping the web – hitting foodie blogs and pinterest like a tropical storm. My verdict: Not bad…convenient, healthy, and tasty makes for a win in my book.
Pour all ingredients into a jar with a lid, shake well, and store in the fridge overnight. In the morning you can add pecans, sliced almonds, or granola to it if you wish. Then dig in!
Here’s what I love about it:
It takes all of 3 minutes to make the night before. In the morning, you have a ready made breakfast. Grab and go. You can even throw it in your bag and eat it as you walk to work or sit at your desk, if you’re rushed in the a.m.
It’s served cold, which is perfect for summer breakfasts. You may love oatmeal, but who wants to eat hot oatmeal when it’s 97 degrees out?
It’s served in a jar, which is just adorable. I love jars for serving food and drinks!
The flavor possibilities are endless. You can mix and match any variety of fruit, fresh or dried, or nuts, granola, extracts, etc. as you can imagine.
It’s healthy.
Oats are healthy as is, but raw oats are fantastic at lowering cholesterol.
Almond milk (I use Almond Breeze) has less calories, fat and sugar than cow’s milk, but 50% more calcium, plus more protein, fiber and minerals. Also, it’s great for people who are lactose intolerant or soy or gluten free.
Chia seeds (apparently the same used to make Chia Pets) aid in weight loss because they take on the flavor of whatever they are paired with, can be used as a substitute for butter and oil in baking, are packed with fiber, and form a gel coating when exposed to liquid that expands the seed to 10x their original size, keeping you hydrated and feeling fuller longer. They also help balance blood sugar (great for diabetics), have lots of protein for energy, and contain calcium, potassium, healthy omega-3 oils, and anti-oxidants. We found them for $10 for a 1 lb. bag, but it lasts a long time when you’re only using it by the tablespoon full. Search the web for recipes that include chia seeds. I can’t wait to try them as a butter or oil substitute the next time I bake – I’m thinking of using them in a lemon blueberry loaf or pie this weekend after I go blueberry picking. :-)
Agave nectar is a natural sweetener that is supposed to be better for you than adding pure sugar. You can use brown sugar, honey, or an artificial sweetener powder, but I find agave nectar provides sweetness without an aftertaste.
Fruit is tasty, healthy, and the good stuff is readily available in the summer when it’s in season.
Approximately 5 weight watcher points per one-jar serving, if you follow that system.
Monday morning I added raspberries, sliced almonds, and a few drops of vanilla extract. Tuesday morning I used strawberries and mangoes (which was delicious!). Other combinations I’m hoping to try this summer are dried cherries or dried cranberries with green apple pieces and a sprinkle of cinnamon, blackberries with a touch of sugar-free maple syrup, peaches and strawberries, blueberries with banana and pistachios, and mangoes with almond extract and shredded coconut. Between nuts, fruits, granola, and extracts, you can have a different one every day for a whole month or more! The web has a million more recipes and combinations – including cocoa, mocha, carrot cake, and peanut butter for those with an early morning sweet tooth.
Thursday morning I took in an early morning ballet class at the Cincinnati Ballet outpost in Blue Ash. It kicked my butt…so I’m obviously going to keep going back. I had a great time, but I wish I hadn’t stayed away from ballet for so long.
Friday morning I met Allyson and her little sis Stephanie (a summer visitor from Texas) bright and early for breakfast at Annabel’s, the tiniest yet tastiest homegrown breakfast joint located in Mt. Lookout. Their menu, ingredients, and pairings are exquisite. The food and the company made for a great start to a day of choreographing dances for camp.
Saturday morning Ted and I went for breakfast at the Original Pancake House – another phenomenal breakfast hot spot – for flapjacks, eggs, and indescribably delicious, thick, sugar-cured bacon. I could LIVE on that bacon. We also walked over to County Fresh Market to stock up on fresh summery hand-picked peaches and cherries. Then I went to a Rhythm & Motion workout dance class (you know, to work off the bacon…) at Cincinnati Ballet before a two-performance show day at the theatre.
Sunday morning we went to church, brunched at Panera, and I had a matinee show mid-day. After I got home from the theatre we took a nice long walk. We also stopped for a treat of mint chocolate chip waffle cones from UDF on the way home, then I continued choreographing, and we watched the movie Whip It to wind down from a busy weekend.
Yesterday I experimented with a new recipe and a new ingredient – cold overnight oatmeal “cooked” in mason jars to help make the morning breakfast rush quick, easy, healthy and tasty….and chia seeds. Chia seeds have a ton of great health benefits (read about them here) so I’ve decided to start incorporating them into my cooking. Blog posts about the oatmeal and chia seeds forthcoming. After work we picked up some takeout Chinese, checked out a NASCAR race car and transport semi parked for display and exploration at the Ford dealership near our home, and started our Leinenkugel beer mixing adventure while tuning in for our Monday night favorites – Hell’s Kitchen and Master Chef. At the market we bought a case of our favorite variety of Leinie’s beers and we’ve been mixing them to make new favorites – so far we’ve done Honey Bear and Pink Lemonade. Summer is so tasty!
And lastly, the crayddlers.
Oh, I love them SO MUCH. They are the coolest little things and they are growing so fast. I can’t even believe they used to be so tiny that four of them would have fit onto one piece of gravel. And they have such distinct personalities! I REALLY wish we could keep them all. But they’re getting so big that they’re starting to get persnickety with each other. A few are missing antennas, and a few are missing one of their big front pinchers. They regenerate their body parts and they are all functioning perfectly fine without them while they regrow, but it’s only a matter of time before they run out of room and start attacking each other. It’s looking like we’ll have decide who to keep and who to relocate sooner rather than later. It’s a huge bummer because I’m desperate to keep them all, but we need to think about what’s best for them.
Otherwise, I’ve stayed busy with an intense schedule of work, nightly shows, and camp prep. I can’t BELIEVE it’s nearly July!
While I spent the weekend in show schedule, Ted spent the weekend in Cleveland enjoying a good party, good weather, good family, good food, and good beer. I always miss Ted when he’s away, but this weekend I really needed some “me” time – a “treat yo’ self” day, if you will.
Between working several 14-hour workdays just in the past week alone, daily rehearsals that lasted well into the night, job interviews, camp preparations, lots of planning and errands, and very little and poor sleep due to a schedule of late nights and early mornings, plus a rather bothersome sun that’s taken to rising at 6 a.m., these little things, all completely normal and manageable by themselves, when taken on all at once were closing in on me and I was waning fast. I found myself feeling overwhelmed and inadequate, exhausted, unmotivated, and frustrated. My work was becoming harder to complete in a timely, efficient, and quality manner, the exhaustion was taking its toll, the stress headaches were starting to sneak in, my thoughts were jumbled, and I was snapping at my husband when he wanted to spend time with me at night, then feeling incredibly guilty for both my behavior and my inability to prioritize what’s truly important in life because I was so busy doing everything else, and not even to best of my ability. It was just too much. I wasn’t feeling or acting like myself and Isimply needed a break to get myself back on track.
In retrospect, it was a great thing that Ted was away this weekend and that I was left home alone, to my own devices. Because though I really missed being with family in Cleveland this weekend, and though I had plentyof work I planned on doing, the only things I really had to do were the shows and to get me back to being me. So instead of catching up on work, I made the decisions to put first things first and take care of myself so that I could be a better wife, a better friend, a better worker, and a happier, healthier person. So I relaxed.
And even just from simply hearing my voice over the phone on Saturday night when we talked, Ted said that he could hear a distinct change and could tell that I was back. I felt refreshed and rejuvenated. And that was just what I needed.
Friday night was opening night. It was filled with plush red carpets and fabulous flower arrangements and posh catering and gorgeous cakes and an ungodly amount of sweets and tons of savory eats and opening night gifts and champagne for all and hugs from friends and after-parties and excellent theatre. And though it was all glamorous and wonderful and fun, it was also exhausting when piled on top of my already insane week, lack of sleep, and a nearly full-day job interview in Dayton that morning. The show was fabulous, the experience was wonderful, the people were awesome, and the dinner party afterward (with the entire tab picked up by someone else!) at Atavola was fun, but by the time I got home at 1:30 a.m., all I could do was collapse in bed. So I did.
And on Saturday morning I slept in past 7 a.m., for the first time in weeks. And it was exactly what I needed. A full 8 hours of sleep…what a world of difference that can make! When I did finally awake, I treated myself to an 11 a.m. Rhythm & Motion dance class at Cincinnati Ballet, which was so fun and felt amazing. I’ve missed dancing so much and the physical exercise felt so good. Paired with a legitimate amount of sleep I was starting to feel good again. I took myself for a stroll around Findlay Market – my favorite outdoors Cincinnati farmer’s market. I walked and browsed and stocked up on eight perfect, beautiful sweet Carolina peaches, two pounds of green beans, a scrumptious looking zucchini, and a bag of Ted’s favorite caramel corn for Father’s Day (from the crays…). I dined on a great lunch of my favorite Vietnamese sandwich at Pho Lang Thang, which hit the spot. On the way home I stopped at Street Pops, a newly founded gourmet Popsicle joint on Main Street that specializes in unusual pairings, fresh ingredients, and savory flavors. I brought home five handmade Popsicles – which included honey bourbon vanilla, blueberry lemon thyme, hibiscus mint mojito, and creamy thai tea. There’s at least 15 other flavors I’m eager to try (see the list of flavors here). So far they’ve all been delicious and have been a welcome treat at the end of a long, hot summer’s day!
I still had a few hours left before Saturday night show call and was feeling so relaxed after a day of things I enjoy and no particular schedule to keep, so I took myself on a quick, leisurely shopping trip for a super cute pair of green shorts (a bargain at only $12 and colored shorts are a trend I’ve been craving all season), a refill kit of my favorite Philosophy skincare products (a true splurge, but they literally last me all year), and an eye mask. I used to think eye masks for sleeping served one purpose – to fuel a high-maintenance diva’s absurd vanity. And then I got sick of not sleeping because the moon was so beautifully bright and the sun was waking me up at 6 a.m. after only five hours of sleep. So I sucked it up and at Ted’s brilliant suggestion I bought a cheap eye mask. And I no longer judge people who wear eye masks because I’ve learned they do actually have a legitimate purpose – headache relief and blocking out annoying sunlight when one is suffering from a lack of sleep and curtains aren’t in the budget. And I’ll probably be wearing it all summer long. After my successful shopping spree I still had a bit of time before show call and was bound and determined to do something fun and summery, so I went for a float and a splash in the pool for 20 minutes, which was simply glorious because the water was cool and the sun was hot and after spending all my days inside a cold, dark theatre, my body was craving that vitamin D big time. On Saturday night I was feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world again. By the time Ted came home on Sunday, life was good again.
The tastiest sandwich in Cincy!My farmer’s market spoils!My tomato plant sprouted her first tomatoes!Father’s Day cheesiness. Love the craybies :)Fruit’s a staple in my summer lunches
And that, my friends, is the story and the lesson of my wonderful weekend. Though I may not have been productive in the traditional sense of the word – with the exception of a few errands, the interview, and three shows – I truly believe this weekend was productive beyond measure.
Strawberry daiquiris, Arnold Palmers with firefly sweet tea vodka, the most delicious fried calamari in all of Cincinnati, and front porch deck dining with sweet small-town views that overlooks the Withamsville main street on a pretty summer’s eve.
When Ted’s working summer hours and is home by 2 everyday and I have the day off or don’t have to be at theatre until show call, this is our favorite happy hour locale…
I know you’re not sick of blog posts or pictures of craybies yet.
So, here’s a few more.
Although I don’t know how much longer we, in good conscience, can continue calling them craybies. At four weeks old, they’re more like toddlers. They totally act like it too.
My buddies and me. We’re thinking of starting a band. Heavy metal.I’m ready for my close up. Please note my marbled complexion…how much am I worth again?Oh, you know, just hanging out. Camouflage is a cray’s best friend! What’s that you say…I’m going to be blue? Oh. Well, that might screw me over later. At least I’m beautiful.Working on my climbing, sunning, and lording over others skills.I won this week’s Beluga Award for being large and in charge. Apparently, I make the other craybies feel like tasty morsels. Oops?Breakfast is my favorite holiday!Mini cray – I watch my weight and exercise regularly. I have a girlish, petite figure to maintain.Maxi cray – I’m just big boned!Who loves cray? You love cray. I’m gorgeous you say? Oh, stop…
