Strawberry Creamsicles

Summer is almost over; Labor Day is right around the corner, and hopefully cooler temperatures are soon to follow. That is not the case right now, though! It is late August in Texas and we are all about ready to sleep in our freezers. Every time I walk in from outside, I literally say a little prayer thanking God for air conditioner; I can’t imagine how miserable we would be without it!

Now, as hot as it is, summer brings lots of fun things like swimming, lake trips, beach trips, and of course delicious summer produce like berries! Selah, my youngest daughter could eat her weight in blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries, but Zemirah, my oldest, is a bit more picky when it comes to fruit. She doesn’t really like blackberries or raspberries because of the seeds, only likes the perfectly firm yet sweet blueberries (such a pain trying to find those illusive berries in the container), and loves strawberries…dipped in honey. In general Zemirah is less of a picky eater than Selah – not so when it comes to berries! But what is a mom to do in the summer when the store has wonderful sales on berries?! I have to get them! Oftentimes I use berries in smoothies, but when I got a giant bag of frozen strawberries (for a super steal!) I decided to do something a little different with them.

While we do love to eat nice cream or drink chocolate milkshakes for a summer treat, something portable is always a nice option. When Selah started refusing bottles at 10 months old, I started making her breastmilk popsicles to have while I was away at work. Because of that I had these popsicle molds and I thought blending up a creamy strawberry popsicle would be a hit for the girls. Check out these pictures to see just how much they enjoyed them! They were a perfect treat for us all (mom, too) after playing outside in the sprinkler one hot summer morning. These are so easy, full of only real ingredients, creamy, sweet, and I bet your kids will love them as much as mine did!

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• Servings: 8
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Ingredients

• 1 cup of fresh strawberries (stems removed), or thawed from frozen
• 1.25 cups of full fat coconut milk
• 1 tsp of maple syrup
• Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor
2. Blend until smooth
3. Pour into popsicle mold or small freezer-safe cups
4. Insert popsicle sticks or small spoons or straws if you’re using a cup
5. Freeze until solid – at least 3 hours
6. Run a little warm water over the molds to easily remove popsicles
7. Store leftover popsicles in freezer for a month.

These little frozen treats are so deliciously strawberry flavored, sweet, and so creamy thanks to the coconut milk, and they are so refreshing to have on a hot day. If your kids are crazy about strawberries, they will love these! If popsicles aren’t your thing, but you’re not trying to sweat with the oven on, check out some of my other no-bake treats like Date Cake, Cookie Dough Bites, or my coconut milk based Cheesecake; all of these desserts will satisfy your sweet tooth while keeping you cool! It may be hot, but soak up these last few weeks of summer, get some sun…and enjoy your Pinch of Crazy!

This post contains affiliate links; if you purchase using the links, it is of no extra cost to you, just a small commission for me. Thank you for supporting A Pinch of Crazy!

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Third Trimester Recap + Postpartum Freezer Stash

Spring has sprung – flowers blooming, I saw some bluebonnets this week, allergies flaring up, all the butterflies flitting about, and our second baby girl is about to make her entrance! I will be 38 weeks pregnant tomorrow, so for my last blog before Baby I wanted to do a third trimester recap (you can read my First Trimester Recap here, and my Second Trimester Recap here) plus give a run down of what I’ve stocked away in our freezer for those early weeks after birth.

Third trimester. Wow. I’d like to say it was rainbows and unicorns, but let’s face it, the end is uncomfortable for everyone! However, I’ve maintained a healthy diet, listening to my body’s cravings, and remained active. The difference in my third trimester this time and last time was incredible, though! When pregnant with Zemirah, I struggled with higher blood pressure, had pitting edema – I’d press my swollen ankle and the indention would stay there – terrible acid reflux, excruciating low back pain, and of course my weight was way too high. This time, however, my blood pressure has been perfect (lower than average), I’ve had minimal swelling here at the very end – I’m still wearing my wedding ring! My back pain has been non-existent until just this past week (it is always on the side Baby’s on), and my heartburn/acid reflux has been exponentially less! All in all, this pregnancy has been very easy, I’m so thankful, and praying the same for birth and the postpartum time.

So, what made the difference in these pregnancies?

34 weeks pregnant with both girls – both photos taken by my talented friend Melissa Conklin

Food

Eating real, whole foods has made a world of difference in my life these past two years (you can read our food journey here), and an immeasurable difference in pregnancy. During my third trimester I ate:

• Dark chocolate – and lots of it! The sweets cravings are real but only dark (60%-72%) chocolate will cut it for me. Add in some almonds or coconut and salt and I’m in my own personal heaven!  One of my favorite packaged dark chocolate snacks is Bark Thins, but I also made a few homemade versions which I will blog after Baby.
• Beef – it’s what’s for dinner. My midwives told me after my glucose screening that I was also anemic, which explained my meat cravings. So we started eating beef about once a week, whereas we usually go a couple weeks without red meat. Steaks are my favorite, but we would also have ground beef in pasta sauce, taco meat, or beef sausage.
• Kale – sauteed in butter, topped with salt and a hefty squeeze of lemon juice has been a staple this whole pregnancy. Leafy greens also happen to be high in iron so that helped my anemia, too, in conjunction with upping my prenatal vitamin to twice a day.
• Citrus fruit – tangerines, navel oranges, blood oranges, grapefruit, you name it! Not to mention, squeezing lemon and/or lime juice on everything. Fun fact, having adequate Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron (it’s almost like my body knew what it needed based on my cravings…hmmmm)
• Fats – butter, olive oil, avocado, oh my! Seriously. Almost everything is cooked in butter and/or olive oil and we have avocado/guacamole nearly every day.
• Dairy – this has been a theme throughout my pregnancy. I seem to digest dairy better when pregnant, and have been taking advantage of that! Soft, fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, and plain, tart Greek yogurt have been my go-to choices.
• Water – how boring, huh? But seriously, lately I’ve been drinking around a gallon a day give or take a few ounces. I am so thankful for easily accessible, clean drinking water.

Exercise

My weight gain has been average thus far (30 lbs), but I’ve remained active throughout this pregnancy not for weight, but for wellness for my mind and body! Some things I’ve done to exercise are:

• Yoga – I love Yoga with Adriene on YouTube and completed my fourth round of “30 Days of Yoga” in January. I had to modify to accommodate my growing belly, but it felt so good to stretch and move daily, taking that all important time to myself. I would also do my own little stretchy yoga flows combined with some suggested activities from Spinning Babies to help get my body prepared for labor and delivery.
• Walking – I love walking, and I make sure to get a long walk in once a week, but now that the weather is warming up and my due date is getting closer, I’m trying to walk almost every day.
• Fit4Mom – I love this company and what they stand for – helping moms find their fit. I am a Stroller Strides instructor, and was teaching two classes a week until last week (taking a break until a few months after Baby) and would also go to the occasional Stroller Barre class to get my legs strong for birth.

Freezer Stash

In preparation for those first few months postpartum, AKA the “fourth trimester”, I began stocking my freezer with some meals a couple months ago. Here’s what I have:

• Lasagna – I have used this lasagna recipe for years. I just subbed in gluten free noodles, used cottage cheese in place of ricotta, and added mushrooms to the sauce
• Chicken/broccoli/rice casserole – this one speaks for itself; it’s all held together with my creamy dairy free “cheese” sauce
• Beef taco meat – like the taco meat in this recipe
• Shredded chicken
• Cooked brown rice
• Meatloaf – just like this meatloaf but with ketchup and kale
• Two Bean Turkey Chili
• Slow Cooker Pork Roast with Veggies (not technically in the freezer yet, making it this weekend!)
• Homemade biscuits
• Gluten free sausage balls
• Sausage and veggie breakfast casserole – similar to this recipe, but with a crust
• Flax and Oat Pancakes
• Frozen vegetables that can steam in the microwave
• Frozen fruits for quick smoothies
• Frozen chicken bones for Chicken Stock

I think that’s everything! I plan to make a big batch of overnight oats and bake some russet and sweet potatoes for the fridge when it’s almost time for the baby. Who knows, maybe that’s how I’ll keep busy during early labor hehe! I am praying all these healthy, whole foods will nourish me and Baby well during those early weeks.

To read more about baby stuff, check out Zemirah’s Birth Story and My Postpartum Journey. Can’t wait to introduce our newest girl to the blog world; thank you for following along on this pregnancy with me! Stay safe, stay healthy, hug your family…and enjoy your Pinch of Crazy!

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase using the links, it is of no extra cost to you, just a small commission for me. Thank you for supporting A Pinch of Crazy!

 

Berry Lemonade

Since late summer of 2014, I’ve been frolicking on beaches, dipping my feet in the cool water, enjoying the ocean breeze coming through my open windows, and never had to worry about bug spray. That was in sunny Oceanside, California. Cut to now, late spring 2019 in Dallas, Texas. I have sweat dripping from my elbows after an hour outside – I didn’t even know your elbows could sweat! The sun is so hot it feels like I’m living on it, my body is covered in bright red mosquito and chigger bites, and the humidity makes my hair look like a small dog that just rolled in the mud.

But nothing beats summertime here with our family. Everyone is a sweaty mess so we just let it slide while we sit around, watching the kids play outside, eating watermelon and sipping lemonade. Lemonade is a must around here – cool, sweet, tart, and refreshing – it’s a welcome treat in the hot summer sun. I decided to make my own refined sugar free version and add some berries for an antioxidant boost! It turned out to be a hit – well received by my daughter, niece, nephew, sister, and, most importantly, my husband – who isn’t a lemonade fan! In his words it was “the perfect amount of tartness”. High words of praise from a lemonade hater!

Zemirah and I had a blast having a tea party (well, technically a lemonade party) outside one hot morning, but because of those dreadful chiggers I put down our gorgeous Karastan rug from Rug Studio, and we drank our lemonade in peace from bugs! You can get my rug here – in different sizes to fit your needs. It adds such a cozy feel to our bedroom, and is luxuriously soft! Plus it makes a great bug protector 😉

However and wherever you choose to have your lemonade party, I hope you make this Berry Lemonade for a refreshing and immune system boosting treat!

Makes 2 quarts.

Ingredients:

• 7-8 cups of water
• 1/2 cup of  fresh or thawed (if frozen) berries (I used a blackberry/blueberry/raspberry combo)
• Juice of 4 large lemons
• 1/2-3/4 cup of raw honey

Directions:

• In a blender, combine berries with 2 cups of water
• Blend just a few seconds until combined
• Strain berry juice through a nut milk bag and mesh strainer – squeezing all the juice out into a large pitcher (this is the most time intensive step, but it’s worth it so you don’t have berry seeds stuck in your teeth all day!)
• On the stove in a small pot, combine honey (to taste) and 1 cup of water, whisking until combined
• Add honey water to the pitcher with the berry juice
• Squeeze all four lemons directly into the pitcher
• Add remaining 4-5 cups of water (to taste)
• Chill until cold or serve over ice
• Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to a week

For more “berry” delicious summertime recipes, check out my Berries and Greens Smoothie, Chocolate Covered Strawberry Chia Pudding, and No Bake Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust! For some scrumptious treats to accompany your lemonade, whip up some Chocolate Banana “Nice” Cream, a No Bake Chocolate Date Cake, or a batch of  Wholesome Chocolate Chunk Cookies! I sincerely hope your summer is off to a great start – filled with family, healthy food, laughter, and happy movement. Soak up your family this summer…and enjoy your pinch of crazy!

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase using the links, it is of no extra cost for you, just a small commission for me – funding my experimental cooking. Thank you for supporting A Pinch of Crazy!