Banana Chocolate Chip Lactation Muffins

August 7, 2014 ~ Crystle ~ 8 Comments

Today I’m 35 weeks pregnant, and I feel like I’m ready to pop. Each sneeze is a terrifying experiment in abdominal fortitude, and each bend at the hips is a foray into a world of discomfort. At night when I’m so tired I think I could just expire, this baby boy goes into hyper mode and kicks and stretches my insides until I’m sure the only relief is immediate delivery.

My chiropractor has been working wonders on my SPD, keeping me strong enough to endure long days of endless chores and raucous childcare without relying on any oral pain management. I whine about this pregnancy, but it’s certainly been more comfortable than my pregnancy with Margot. I’m able to complete all the tasks that need to be done, and with the help of my Sakura Bloom baby sling from my friend Sarah, I’m able to take Margot’s don’t-put-me-down phase in stride.

Speaking of Margot, she’s entered this exhausting new phase of sleep regression. It’s no fun waking up to her hysterical cries several times a night, but I’m grateful to have such great cuddling time with her and her favorite teddy bear. It’s also good conditioning for what’s around the corner with a newborn. I’m tired now, but I know I’ll be about 20 times more exhausted in a months time.

While Margot napped today (she still sleeps for a good 2-3 hours in the early afternoon, hallelujah!) I got to work on lactation sweets to promote a reliable milk supply in my first few weeks postpartum.

I baked 4 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip lactation cookies, and a dozen of these banana chocolate chip muffins. I used the leftover batter to make a small loaf of muffin bread, bagged it all up, and stored it in the freezer for quick snacks after Woody arrives. I’m already stocking the freezer with baked goods and crock-pot meals so when all of new-baby help is gone, and I’m left to juggle two kids and a household alone, I’ll be able to ease into the transition a little easier.

Isaac is going to the field for two weeks just before Woody’s due date, so it’s even more important that I get all this nesting and food prep done before he leaves. He’s leaving again in October, and January for similar Army training duties. A few weeks here, a month there — I’d take that over a deployment or a hardship tour any day.

Back to these lactation muffins. The active ingredients in lactation promoting foods is brewers yeast and flax seed meal. They’re available at your local grocery store near the vitamins or bulk foods, or at your local GNC. I probably should have subbed in low-glycemic sugar substitutes like agave nectar for the sugar called for in this recipe, but Margot only naps for a few hours, and I had back to back batches of cookies and muffins to complete in a short amount of time. Experimenting with substitutions is a leisurely endeavor reserved for lazy Saturday afternoons, I’ll get to it eventually, though.

Moist and sweet, these banana chocolate chip lactation muffins will be a go-to treat around here while I’m breastfeeding. They’ve got a decent amount of fiber that’s punctuated by semi-sweet chocolate morsels, edging out that health-food aftertaste.

Banana Chocolate Chip Lactation Muffins

Author: Crystle

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 24

Lactation-promoting banana chocolate chip muffins.

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp Brewers Yeast
3 tbsp Flax Seed meal
1/2 cup oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or dark chocolate chips)
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with paper muffin cups.
In a large mixing bowl, mash ripe bananas. Mix in the softened butter until blended, then add the vanilla and egg. Mix until well incorporated.
In a separate, large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, Brewer’s Yeast and Flax Seed meal until blended.
Slowly add dry ingredients into banana mixture. Stir in oats, and chocolate chips and mix well.
Fill muffin cups with batter until 3/4 full. Bake 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center of muffin comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes, and enjoy!

Notes

Recipe adapted from My Little Poppyseed [br]Store these muffins in an airtight container in the freezer, and pull out muffins on an as-needed basis for longer shelf life. Pop a muffin into the microwave for a minute, and enjoy a ‘fresh’ muffin.

Wild Alaskan Blueberries

August 4, 2014 ~ Crystle ~ Leave a comment

Wild Blueberry - Fairbanks, Alaska Wild Blueberry Picking - Fairbanks, Alaska Wild Blueberries Alaska When we lived in Washington, the blackberries were plentiful. I mean they were everywhere. They were considered a nuisance for property owners and like the piled up tumbleweeds of the southwest, they were the hallmark of a neglected parcel of land. On road sides and on empty lots, we wrangled our way through the thorny brush to pluck the seedy wild berries so Isaac could snack on them, and I could can them. We even had them in ice cream.

Alaska has its own wild berry abundance, we’ve discovered. My good friend Jena found a great spot about 30 minutes outside of Fairbanks where she and her family have collected about 6 gallons of blueberries to date. Jena is a self-proclaimed berry-picking addict. After she and her family have their fill of blueberry crumbles, she plans to freeze her bounty for smoothies and treats throughout the year.

095A8133 We didn’t collect nearly as many blueberries as the Smiths, probably because I had a difficult time navigating the boggy terrain with a larger than normal body, leaky rain boots, or some other pregnancy-related excuse.

Margot was content to ride in her backcountry carrier, but preferred to hang out in the boggy terrain with her main squeeze Gavyn. They’re the most sickeningly adorable toddler duo in town, Jena and I are convinced. They sat and munched on berries while the adults harvested. And we were all diligent in scanning the landscape for the grizzly who allegedly lives in the valley on the other side of the hill. No sightings, fortunately.

095A8144 Wild Blueberry Picking - Fairbanks, Alaska The land we were on had endured wildfires some time ago, leaving the dry, spindly trees to slowly rot. Some had already begun their slow descent to the lush ground cover below.

Recent rainfall had pooled in the lower lying areas, making the entire area an ankle-deep pond, with the exception of a few dry, grassy knolls. Mosquitos were of course everywhere, biting any flesh exposed to the open air. My hands have already swollen enough to exclude me from wearing my wedding ring. Swelling is the only way my body handles mosquito bites these days.

Poor Margot has two bites just below her left eye that have her looking like she was in a boxing match, with a few red rash-like bites around her neckline. She hasn’t had any issues with bites this summer so far, but Fairbanks seems to have a cloud of mosquitos over it at all times; we’re all sitting ducks when we head outdoors and it’s inevitable that the mosquitos will bite.

I’ll likely cook my blueberry bounty into a syrup and can the surplus so we can have blueberry syrup swirled into ice cream, onto pancakes, or baked into bread as a sweet reminder of the summer bounty.

After the Summer Solstice

July 22, 2014 ~ Crystle ~ Leave a comment

This poor blog has been at the bottom of my list of priorities lately. We haven’t traveled much in the last couple of months, and recipe development has been on the back burner. I’ve been relying on sandwiches, seasonal berries, crock pot meals, and greek yogurt to sustain my family — and on particularly busy days I feel like I’m throwing crumbs to the birds, shouting ‘fend for yourselves!’ as I head out the door for Book Club or an evening photo session.

Summer is winding down, I can tell because the further we stray from the Summer Solstice, the less daylight we have each day.

Sally the Beagle Even with the long daylight hours, summer in Fairbanks has been very wet this year. Although I have no previous experience in Alaska to compare it to, I can say that it’s similar to springtime in Washington. We’ve had a handful of warm sunny days, usually when it counts, like during the Summer Solstice festival.

But overall, it’s been a very wet summer. The wettest in 100 years, I’m told. And overcast. Today we’re under cloud cover once again. The temps linger in the sixties and low seventies, exactly where they need to be for a comfortable summer in maternity clothes. I can’t imagine wearing full panel skirts and shorts when temps top 100, or attempting to buy a swimsuit while 7 months pregnant. I’m definitely thankful for the cool, brisk summer we’ve had so far.

Rainy day play dates and gatherings at the local community centers have been the norm.

Work has been steady over at Yea Yea Photography. But Margot, my assistant, only likes to help when I’m working with packaging materials, or editing photos of babies. More often than not, she insists on sitting on my lap and yelling ‘ga!‘ at the computer monitor when I cull images. Her clumsy little fingers smack against the keyboard in an attempt to help me type; it’s a much less endearing effort when she accidentally closes a window, or somehow hits ‘undo’ on my work.

Juggling childcare, work and service is a challenge. This year I’ve taken on a board position at the Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC), a military spouse ministry I’ve been involved in since moving here to Fairbanks. I’m the Historian this year, meaning I walk around our events with my camera around my neck (as usual), taking photos of everyone having a good time. It’s a great way to serve in accordance to my skill set. You can see my photos on their Facebook page.

I’ve also been meeting up with other photographers in town. I’m proud to have the talented Sarah Lewis in my collection of friends up here, and excited that she’ll be doing our Fresh-48 photo session when Woody arrives. She recently gifted me a jar of SCOBYs, and a vintage yogurt maker, both of which will get plenty of use.

It’s nice to talk shop with Sarah, and a few of the other photographers in town, whose experience and knowledge far outrank mine.

This weekend should be the busiest in awhile. My friends are throwing me a baby shower Saturday morning, then I’m shooting a wedding (my first!) that same evening. After a busy period of culling and editing in the days following, I’ll be wrapping up some orders, then taking it easy on a brief Maternity leave.

Woody will be here in about six weeks. As his due date draws nearer, my confidence wavers. I’m terribly nervous about multiplying my parenting responsibilities and meeting everyone’s needs. The lack of sleep is also a daunting prospect. I expect difficulties in keeping up with Margot who is more and more active, yet needy, all the time. Right now she’s in the throes of a ‘don’t-put-me-down’ phase, it’s kills my back when I carry her without with the ERGObaby Original Baby Carrier, which has proven itself essential more times than I can count.

Regardless of the workload, or the changes in responsibility, we’ve got a good thing going. Our family dynamic changes a little bit, everyday here in Alaska — a lot like the waning midnight Sun.