Sweet Sweet Rednesday

It's REDNESDAY over at It's A Very Cherry World!
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Let's talk about one of my favorite RED things to eat - STRAWBERRIES!

Nova Scotia has wonderful strawberries! When the girls were younger, I used to take them, and we'd pick at least 2 flats (24 quarts). I'd make jam, pies, muffins, breads, freeze many, many bags for winter eating, and we'd just plain gorge ourselves on strawberries. They were pretty good pickers too, especially Molly.

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This summer with kiddies strewn hither and yon, the freezer still contains a few bottles of jam, and being so busy staining; I purchased 6 quarts ($2.49 each). And because I've been watching my cholesterol, I did not bake a pie :( nor did I make strawberry Romanoff! (So yummy & full of lovely fat!) I did freeze 8 baggies of cleaned & sliced berries (about 1-2 cup in each) for winter munching. I've also been having lots of strawberry smoothies, strawberries sliced and scattered over the top of my salads and strawberries with frozen yogurt. And after work today, I'm decided that I'm going to bake some low-fat strawberry muffins.

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It's another rainy, humid day here in Nova Scotia, and I've no central air, so there's not much a person can do! Reclining on the sofa in front of the fan whilst reading my book and having tea and muffins is, in my view, a perfect way to spent the evening!

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Here's a recipe that I know I want to try: it's from Aparna @ My Diverse Kitchen.

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But for tonight, I think I'll make the following recipe. It has several of the things that I look for when I'm baking low-fat -- whole grain nutrition, yogurt for good bacteria and moistness a la bananas.

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• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tsps baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup low-fat (banana) yogurt
• 1 mashed banana
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with vegetable cooking spray or line with paper cups. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Stir in strawberries. In a small bowl, combine milk, yogurt, banana, egg, and vanilla. Mix well. Add milk mixture to dry ingredients and stir until just combined without overmixing. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full.

**Combine 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; sprinkle over batter.

Bake until tops of muffins are firm and golden, about 20 minutes. Place on a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Turn muffins out onto rack and cool completely.

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Have a wonderful Rednesday! And I'll let you know how these turn out.