Healthy Cookie

I know, I know, it sounds like an oxymoron. But it's not. Those two things can actually go together.

I'll tell you what doesn't go together though. Me. And food photography. Never gonna happen. So you'll just have to excuse that picture down there and pretend that the pile of cookies looks delicious. I can assure you that it is, because it has since been demolished.

Backstory (isn't there always one?): I'm trying out a new "lifestyle change"- which for the record, I love that this is now what we have decided to call that thing that is really a diet, because we all know diets don't work. Right. Onward. The goal of this new lifestyle is to eat like a vegan until 6pm, and then after that, you can have whatever you want, within moderation of course. It's really not that hard - I have a green breakfast smoothie and then eat some more vegetables for lunch. And I'm a really big fan of the part that lets me cheat every day (after 6:00), instead of just one day a week. Who has enough self-control to wait six days for all the good stuff? Not me, for sure. And anyway, it's kind of fun coming up with new foods that make veggies and other healthy foods taste good...I like that part a lot, too.

But I can't live without cookies, not even for 18 hours a day. Thanks, genetics.

So I found this gluten-free peanut butter cookie recipe on Pinterest, and then turned it vegan too. And now I eat cookies for breakfast, and don't even feel guilty about it.

I'm sure this "lifestyle change" is going to show results fast. Ha.

Gluten-free (with Vegan option) Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from this recipe.

1 cup + 1 heaping tablespoon natural creamy or chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs (or make the equivalent flax eggs)
2/3 cup rolled oats (gluten-free)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup (Vegan) chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Prepare flax eggs, if using, and set in the refrigerator. If using regular eggs, skip this step.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl beat peanut butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth, about 3 minutes (or stirring with a wooden spoon works too). Mix in dry ingredients (oats, baking soda) with a wooden spoon, then gently fold in chocolate chips.
4. Roll cookies into 2 inch dough balls and place onto cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
5. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes and remove when edges barely begin to turn a golden brown. The cookies may look a little underdone, but they will continue to cook once you remove them from the oven. Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 
6. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.

Makes 16-20 cookies.

Notes: Feel free to substitute almond butter or another nut butter in replace of peanut butter. I think you could also take the sugar down to 1/4 or 1/3 cup and add a tablespoon or two of agave nectar and it would taste just as good. The first time I made these, I think I took the sugar down too far, and they tasted more like granola bites than cookies, and I knew they were healthy. So unless you want to realize just how good-for-you these are, stick to the suggested amount(s) of sugar.

Newly. Wed // 01

I want to answer the question that I get asked every time I see someone who was at our wedding and who I haven't seen since. Because this seems to be the question on everyone's mind (and really it's probably not, but it happens to be an easy conversation starter to avoid the awkward silence). Before the wedding, it was always, how's wedding planning? and now, it's all, how's married life? And in a normal social situation, the easiest answer is good, not that much different than life before the wedding (just a lot less stressful now that I'm not planning the largest party of my life and trying to accommodate all you crazy people) and the part in parenthesis is the part I think and don't say.

Of course, there's so much more to the story than it's good. Being a newlywed is awesome and confusing and thrilling and infuriating at any given time, because you are no longer operating as two completely independent people but instead trying to share some of the hardest things in the world to let another person in on. And it usually ends up being wonderful, although growing up, I was never very good at sharing, so I wouldn't have believed it. Like all wonderful things, you learn how to make the confusing and infuriating parts less so, so that you can do more of the awesome and thrilling parts. How we've done that (and are doing it, because it's an ongoing thing) is what I want to talk about.

First up, food.

You wouldn't think that getting food would be harder for two people than it is for one. Shopping and cooking and all things food for one person is HARD. And it is equally hard, but in a different way, for two people. Especially when said two people don't like to eat the same way or the same things. In our case, Ben wants to eat like a MAN…chili and burgers and burritos, meat and (mashed) potatoes. And I want to eat like a hippie - salads and whole grains and as clean as possible (although I can't deny my sweet tooth, and thankfully, we are in agreement on that one). Also, I'm indecisive and what looks good to me at the time of grocery shopping doesn't sound as good later in the week when I need to make it. Not to mention, who makes it, how it's made, and who cleans up have been some of our major-minor arguments since getting married.

But there is hope. Six months (and two years) of living together later, we are finally getting into our groove. Here's what's working for us:

1// Pinterest. Ben used to make fun of me for buying cookbooks and then only using them for the same two recipes every time we needed to make a grocery list. So I was banned from buying any more. Instead, I set up a recipe board on Pinterest, and I add to it every time I see a food that sounds appetizing (usually a recipe or two per week). There's no memorizing page numbers or a file in my head of which cookbook my favorite macaroni and cheese recipe comes from - we can both access it from our computers and easily get ingredient lists and how-tos.
2// Trader Joe's. When we first moved in together, Ben could not fathom that I would not shop at a normal grocery store. However, after a few trips and realizing exactly how much they do have if you need simple ingredients, he was converted. Also, their frozen foods, which we keep on hand only for emergencies (aka when we run out of food and don't feel like running out to get something), taste so much better than your average Lean Cuisine and have ingredients that read like normal food and not a science fiction movie. Now that we're on the same page, we know what basics to buy every week and don't even have to add them to the grocery list. We still haven't ironed out the kink that results in three bags of frozen broccoli in our freezer at all times, but there are worse things, so we let that one slide.
3// Pick Three. Making a grocery list used to be the bane of our existence because it took two hours to decide what we wanted to eat for the week. One of us would throw out a recipe (Ben) and the other one of us would go ehhhhh, not feeling it (me). Coming up with six things to make for the week (not including pizza, because that's a given) was worse than pulling teeth. Finally, we came up with the brilliant idea that if we each chose three meals, it would go a lot faster and we would both get to eat what we want. To make it work, we each agreed to not question or veto the other person's choices, even if it means eating a food (like mushrooms for Ben or beef for me) that isn't your favorite. It also gets us out of our comfort zones and encourages trying things that we wouldn't on our own.
4// Do a Favor. There was a time when I was commuting and Ben would get dinner started on those days that I didn't get home until super late and the last thing I wanted to do after sitting in two hours of traffic was spend energy to make dinner. Now that he commutes two days a week, I try to return the favor by starting a meal before he gets home, or, at the very least, making sure there's a plan. We try to remember that it's not about who did it last time, but just getting it done. No one's really keeping track, so being even doesn't matter if you do whatever you can do to make the other person's life easier.

As for sharing a kitchen, we've found that we can work together and cook in the same space if we let each other do our own thing. So if Ben is cooking meat (which he is infinitely better at), then I let him see it all the way through. If I'm making a sauce, he knows that's my thing and will generally leave it alone (unless I walk away and forget about it, and then he is kind enough to stir it without letting me see). If there's a food one of us wants prepared a certain way, that person is in charge of that part of dinner. And when one of us is hangry and things aren't running smoothly, well, that's when we start solving our problems with wine. It works like a charm.

Anything I missed or should be doing? I'm always up for advice...I want to be the best wifey EVER.

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

I am so unqualified to write this post. I have spent the past four years doing anything but cooking dinner. Don't get me wrong, I believe in cooking your own meals, I just didn't like doing it. I have a Pinterest board full of recipes, a shelf full of cookbooks and a wonderful momma full of good food ideas. But still, when it would come time to choose meals for the week, nothing sounded right. Too much work, too many weird ingredients, too much like spaghetti (which I love, but really shouldn't eat every night even though I would in a heartbeat).

And then.

I put this book on my Christmas list.

My mom picked it up and wrapped it and put it under the tree.

And it has changed my feelings about dinner. And kale. That is a serious accomplishment for a food that seriously tastes like fart. And no I'm not kidding, that's really what it tastes like when I put it in my mouth. Gross, I know. But I kept giving it a chance because it's a superfood, and finally found a good way to consume it in mass quantities. The answer was actually not a surprise - cook it and smother it with cheese!

For the past week and a half, almost every single breakfast, lunch, and dinner has come out of this treasure trove of not too heavy, not too light recipes. I'm no foodie, but the ingredient combinations are divine and the final product actually looks like the pictures in the book and it actually tastes as scrumptious as it looks. So far, we have made latkes (twice!), risotto stuffed pablanos (which were actually cubanelles because that's all that the grocery store had and thankfully wikipedia said they were an acceptable substitute in the U.S. for pablanos which I didn't find out until after desperately hoping that whatever this previously-unheard-of pepper that I bought wouldn't destroy the mouths of our dinner guests coming that evening), white chocolate pudding with raspberry curd, a wild-rice-baby-swiss-and-kale casserole, artichoke stuffed shells, cheddar cheese buns, and - for dinner tonight - sour cream pancakes with peaches. And on a whim, I also pulled up a recipe on the Smitten Kitchen website for whole wheat apple muffins that tasted exactly like you would imagine apple pie tastes like in muffin form. Everything was deee-lish.

Okay, so my latkes didn't turn out quite as perfectly round, nor my eggs quite as beautifully white as the picture below, but they certainly tasted as good as that picture looks.

The only slight downside I've found so far is that the recipes are not focused on clean eating and include a lot of dairy, but I've done several substitutions to try to reduce/eliminate the dairy or use less commercially processed ingredients and have not had any problems so it's not really a big issue. I won't complain, though, because all of a sudden I've gone from worst wifey ever to Martha freaking Stewart.

To Deb Perlman (who will probably never read this), THANK YOU. You are my Julia Child, and I am so grateful that you have shared your talent for creating dishes that are accessible for a "normal" person who is short on time and imagination when it comes to food.

(And just to note, I did not get asked to review this or get any other incentive for doing so; I just figured that, because it has been a part of my daily life since I got it, it would be worth sharing for everyone else who just wants an answer to "What am I going to make for dinner?")

Summer Smoothie

Something about strawberries just makes me think of summer. And apparently America, because that bowl of strawberries up there...eating them felt like the most patriotic thing I did all day on the Fourth of July (although, I did check out the Annapolis fireworks).

By themselves, strawberries are juicy, sweet, and pretty much the best fruit on the planet, besides maybe mangos. Okay, they're in a tie. But nothing beats fresh strawberries in the summer. Just by themselves. Or in a smoothie...so refreshing on a hot day.

I don't normally post my food here...and that's not because I don't love food...believe me, I do. But I'm not creative in the kitchen. I think we all have our areas where we feel comfortable to let loose and can envision and produce a fabulous end result. All I envision when I walk into a kitchen to prepare a meal is the mountain of dishes that will take up residence in my sink (where to such mountains come from???) just as the meal is ready to eat. The more creativity required, the bigger the mountain, so I usually don't get too creative.

Except when it comes to smoothies. They speak to me. And on hot summer days, mmmm....there's nothing better. Last week, as I was making my yummy breakfast smoothie, I didn't have enough almond milk to make a full drink. I had already added all of the fruit, and it was not blending correctly because the liquid/solid ratio was not right. I didn't know what to do...until I opened the fridge and saw the holy grail of smoothie ingredients glowing and shooting sparkles at me.

Pineapple juice.

I added a dash, just enough to bring my tasty treat back to equilibrium. The blender whirred and when it finished, I put the cup to my mouth and...tasted heaven in a glass.

I won't be selfish and keep this all to myself, so if you would like to give it a go, here is the recipe:

• almond milk
• strawberries (i use frozen because 1 - no ice is required and 2 - they last a lot longer)
• banana
• pineapple juice (i know we haven't talked about my obsession with Trader Joe's, so I'll just leave it at THIS IS THE BEST PINEAPPLE JUICE, LIKE, EVER)

I don't believe in measurements (which would explain a lot about my cooking and the end result - although I promise that you pretty much can't screw up this smoothie), so just follow these instructions.

1. Fill the glass about half full with the almond milk.
2. Cut up a banana into chunks, add to glass. Add frozen strawberries until there are one or three that aren't covered by the almond milk.
3. Add pineapple juice until all of the fruit is underwater.
4. Blend until smooth-ish. I love my immersion blender - makes it soooo easy and perfect for 1-2 servings. And saves my sink from lots of dishes.
5. Drink it up!

Happy weekend everybody :o)