Last week was July 11, and every kid knows that means free slurpees. Including mine.
And since I’m not a vigilante, I took them to our local 7/11 to slurp down a sugary, artificially flavored and artificially colored treat, red teeth and all.
Then we redeemed ourselves, biking to the farmers’ market in Evanston. We loaded up our bike trailer with a week’s worth of fruit and vegetables, only to have my son realize we forgot the berries. I handed over $5 and he ran back to the stand to buy a big carton of them. They looked so good that we sat down right then and there, popping them in our mouths, until my son started yelling at me, “You’re eating them all up!” Guilty as charged.
I couldn’t resist asking the kids which was better. These local, freshly picked, ripe berries or a slurpee? Maybe it’s the onslaught of nausea that sets in after finishing a slurpee, but I kid you not, they voted for the berries.
Whether you pick them yourself or fill your shopping bags with berries from the farmer’s market, now’s the time to stock up on blueberries. Locally, they’re so ripe and delicious, I hardly can keep them in my fridge long enough to freeze them. But I managed to set aside enough for blueberry muffins.
WHOLE WHEAT BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup almond flour
1t baking powder
1/2t cinnamon
dash salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup apple sauce
1t vanilla
1/2 cup coconut milk or soy milk
1 egg
1/2 cup blueberries
Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir thoroughly. Add the blueberries at the end and stir until just mixed. Bake in muffin tins on 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
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