Cheddar Dill Muffins

Curses! It’s so aggravating when you have an injury that just won’t go away. I rolled over on my ankle a couple of months back and it still hasn’t quite healed up. I must have really done some damage. When it first happened, I rested it for a few weeks until it felt fine. Then, I went on a hike, and sure enough, I rolled over on it again. Murphy’s Law, kind of like when you bite your tongue and then continue biting it in the exact same spot a dozen more times.

I rested it a few more weeks until it felt better. Then I went for a jog, and it got worse again. I guess I’m just not resting it enough… I wait a while until I start going stir-crazy, then push myself before I’m completely healed.

It really sucks not being able to do something you really love to do.

I went to my foot guy (yes, I have a foot guy, my feet have always had problems) and get this: he told me I should be a swimmer instead of a runner. At first I was almost offended. Excuse me? Just heal me up already, Doc so I can get back to running. I love trail running with my dog, so it the thought of ditching it was as painful as my ankle itself.

But then I started thinking about it, and I figure, why not? I haven’t been swimming in ages, but when was a young’un I practically LIVED in the water. I am a Pisces, after all, and I spent the majority of my preteen years with wrinkly fingertips.

Are any of you avid swimmers? It’s supposed to be a great, low-impact sport for those with injuries or foot/knee/ankle problems. ??? Now if I could just get over my aversion to public pools…

I was lucky enough to live, for a few years at least, in a place that had a pool in the backyard. I lived in it, getting my mom to “time me!” as I did laps, count how long I could hold an underwater handstand, or rate me from 1-10 on my cannonball off the diving board. Whenever one of my closest friends would come over, we would construct a sort of floating-island-fort out of air mattresses, pool noodles, and beach towels, and we’d float around for hours. We imagined the pool vacuum was an evil sea monster out to get us, or one of us would be a mermaid and the other her pet dolphin.

Pretty cute, when I look back on it. Ah, youth, before the days of iPads and YouTube and MySpace.

The next few years had me living in a remote cabin on an inlet which was boat-access only. I took a water taxi to school (basically a school bus on the water) and naturally, I swam in the ocean. The summers were filled with jumping off the dock and swimming to the neighbours house, attempting to waterski, or catching fresh crab and prawns right in our front yard.

Pool or ocean, I love the water. So hey, maybe I’ll give this “swimming for exercise” thing a shot. I do know that I need to do something, as I’ve always been an active person, and if I go too long without sweating it out I end up in a downward spiral that results in me eating entire bags of chips without leaving the couch for days on end and just generally being a gross, mildy depressed human.

So anyway. I’m really not sure what swimming has to do with these muffins…I guess I just felt like rambling today. But hey, these muffins are a perfect grab-n-go snack for those early mornings. If you get up early to go to the office, sweat it out at the gym, or do some laps in your local pool (see! connection!) grab one or two of these to eat in the car and you’ll be happily sated until you have the time to indulge in a proper breakfast. (They’re also great for a mid-day snack.)

The combination of cheddar and dill is quite wonderful here. Dill may seem like a strange edition to a savory muffin, but the tangy herb makes these muffins taste so fresh and tasty.

There’s only a touch of butter and sugar in these muffins, so you can eat a few of this without the guilt.

Bonus: I had one for breakfast one morning, warmed up with a poached egg on top and it was heaven!