I’m sorry. I really am!

I ruined strawberries for Chris.

He hasn’t eaten one in three years, thanks to my lazy ways.  I signed us up for the “Extra Fruit Option” with a CSA way back when, and it was WAY too much!  We were getting at least 6 pints of strawberries each week on top of all the other fruits and veggies in box.  As much as I love fruit, that is just too much for one girl who doesn’t know how to can and whose freezer was chock full. Plus, the berries weren’t even that great, so I wasn’t super motivated to maow down.

So the strawberries just sat on the counter and rotted.  Week after week.  I’m sure that I don’t have to tell you that that is gross.  And old, gunky strawberries smell really, really disgusting.  Chris is sensitive about food as it is, so this certainly didn’t help.

He’s refused to eat them since.

I stopped eating them for the most part, too, but that was because I was convinced that the fruit isn’t that great.  Really, I didn’t even like strawberries until I moved to California.  Growing up in Vermont, we couldn’t wait to go berry picking at Mazza’s Farm Stand on River Road, but the fruit was never very sweet or red, and they were really tiny.  That’s sort of what these CSA berries were.

U-pick berries at Mazza’s

But last summer, I bought a carton of berries on the corner.  I took them to fellowship to share, and they were awesome.  And I realized how perfect a great strawberry could be- sweet, juicy, vibrantly colored, and perfumed.

Street vendor selling fruit

Strawberries are now a go-to food for me, because on Weight Watchers, they are 0 points.  Hooray!  I eat them for breakfast or for a quick snack when I want something sweet.

I even accidentally introduced my niece to them back in March.  We were buying some at Whole Foods, and I let her hold one in her little hand and munch while I was shopping.  Little did I know that she had never tried one before!  Oops.  It all worked out, though, and she LOVED it!

Last week, Chris said, “I miss strawberries.”  I felt really, really badly and apologized for my past mistake.  I said that he should give them a try again and told him of the fruit I’ve been getting at Zanotto’s down the street.  Their berries are delightful.  My mission for this summer is to make it up to Chris.  Maybe this is a start:

Delish! And pretty too.

Morning Smoothie

I have to have breakfast before I get going every day, or else I turn into a crazy lunatic.  Really.  Not joking about this, people.

Because I’m often running late, though, I have to be really fast about it. For that reason, I’m a big fan of smoothies… but there’s one problem.

They’ve got a great texture and are tasty, but they usually don’t fill me up.  I find that I am hungry an hour or two later, which defeats the purpose of a meal!

This may be that I don’t do dairy, so my concoctions are mostly fruit and a milk-substitute.  Today, though, I made one that is super healthy and creamy and kept me satisfied for a few hours.  I think that it’s the flax seed oil that made the difference, because everything else stays pretty much the same.

Anyway, it’s a quick, delightful way to get the day going.  Even better- this recipe is gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and vegan.  Yet it still tastes good.  Hooray!

Berry Smoothie
makes 16 oz of gf, df, sf deliciousness

Blend the following ingredients together:
2 C frozen berry mix
1 C unsweetened almond milk (Almond Breeze)
1 T rice protein powder (Nutribiotic Vegan Rice Protein, plain)
1 T flax seed oil
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (or more, depending on your preference)
1 handful fresh spinach (washed)- optional

Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 5

Enjoy!