Oatmeal Cranberry Spice Cookies

This is my latest recipe experiment! I am supposed to be taking it somewhat easy this afternoon and evening which meant my initial plan to swim laps this evening was not the greatest idea.  I decided baking cookies was an excellent alternative to exercise. :)

Oatmeal Cranberry Spice Cookies

1/2 c coconut oil
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/4 c milk
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 t salt
1 t soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t allspice
3 c quick oats
1 c dried cranberries

Cream together oil and sugar, add eggs, vanilla and milk and mix.  Stir together flour, salt, soda and spices.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix.  Stir in oats, then cranberries.  Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheet and bake ~9 minutes at 350.

Of course, because apparently I find it difficult to simply follow a recipe, this recipe was made up just this evening.  It started from an idea and an oatmeal raisin cookie recipe.  The coconut oil was the first time I've ever used it.  Honestly, I did not notice any difference whatsoever from previously using butter (original recipe) or canola oil (one of my other experiments).  I will probably continue to use either butter or canola oil in the future.  I normally do not add milk, but the dough was too dry...so I added milk after the flour was mostly mixed in, but before adding oats.  The blend of spices and cranberry turned out very well!  An extra bonus: my kitchen-and the rest of my apartment-smells amazing!

*Disclaimer: I am NOT advocating baking cookies instead of exercising! :)

Tantalizing photos:

And...please still ignore dates on photos.  I STILL have battery problems and STILL cannot remember to change the date.

October already...

Autumn is a beautiful time of year.  I enjoy watching the trees change color, leaves fall and blow in the wind.  Each day brings a little bit different mix of colors and ever more leaves on the ground and falling.  The path I normally walk along is absolutely gorgeous and I am thoroughly enjoying my walks-when I get them in. :)

When Negative is Positive

I like contrasts and that is precisely what the title is!  It was also inspired by a comment my dad made when I let him know a result was negative.

OK, the story...
I somehow went from being very healthy, to being rather sick.  More accurately, I have been sick more than well since July of this year.  The reason at least partially has to do with the amount of stress I was under and that the stress has not exactly gone away yet.  The stress has lessened some in some areas, worsened in others, but overall, is still very present although less intense.  Anyway, I have been getting sick nearly every single weekend (as in respiratory infection with low fever and worsening of the ever-present cough that won't go away--nothing major, just annoying). So, last week, by Tuesday afternoon I finally was feeling better from the previous weekend's illness.  Yay!  Then, Thursday morning woke knowing I was starting the next round early.  Sigh.  I continued on with plans to go to Nebraska to be with family and finally have a mini-vacation of sorts since there was no chance for one during the summer.  I got to Lincoln Thursday evening, woke Friday morning feeling worse than ever.  By Sunday, I was so tired I fell asleep after church and before lunch, then fell asleep again after lunch and slept 3 more hours that afternoon.  Sunday evening, I was coughing so hard that my mom asked if I thought I had whooping cough...no.  But being curious, I looked up the symptoms of whooping cough (otherwise known as pertussis) and the description was an exact fit of what I was dealing with.  I figured chances were pretty slim that I actually had whooping cough since I was not aware of any exposure, my immunizations are all up to date, and it is rather uncommon, etc.  But, I also know others who had gotten it even though they'd been vaccinated.  So, once back in Iowa, I got in to the doctor and got checked just to be sure.  The tests results came back today-negative.  Yay!  So, being negative truly is positive! :)

Now, to figure out what I do have and get it to go away.  This cough has made me aware of abdominal muscles I didn't know I had...and that is in spite of my abdominal muscles actually being in decent shape from doing Pilates, stabilization and core-strengthening exercises regularly.  Between the cough, fever, headache, congestion, and lack of sleep from the cough, I really don't feel well.  Getting anything done is a major undertaking.  Hopefully, I can rest enough this weekend to start getting well again. :)

Recipes

Recipe 1: Tortillas

Here is the recipe for the tortillas I made awhile back.  It is based on the recipe I grew up making and although I did modify it a bit from the original, it is still mostly the same.

Tortillas
3 cups flour (I use 100% white whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter (5 1/3 tablespoons)
1 cup warm water
Mix together dry ingredients.  Cut in butter.  Add water and mix.  Roll into circles and bake on medium heat griddle.

This made ~10 tortillas for me this time.  I froze the extras and so far, they thaw fine. :)

Recipe 2: Black Beans

This recipe is still in process as I've only made it twice and am not really working from any recipe at all-just making things up as I go along.  Thus, this is subject to much change!

So far:

Sort and rinse 2 cups of black beans

Cover beans with several inches of water and allow to soak overnight.

Drain and rinse beans, pour beans into crock pot.

Cover beans with several inches of water

Season to taste-options are endless! :)

I use:

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Cook until beans are tender and desired consistency.  Once beans are soft, add salt to taste.  I use 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt for this amount of beans. I have been cooking the beans on a combination of low and high for several hours.  I let them get so soft that they look like refried beans but I don't have to mash them or do anything with them.  Easiest way to make refried beans from scratch!   

These freeze and thaw very well!  

Notes: you can probably cook more beans at a time, but they spatter so much steam the way it is I've been afraid to try a larger batch.  Because they spatter steam, make sure nothing that can be damaged by water is near the crock pot.

Home made black beans!

Today

Today...
-I had to go back and locate the part that fell off of my car on the way to church.  This resulted in making me late to church, but I found the part and I did finally get to church!
-I took a nap instead of eating lunch as I was far more tired than hungry.
-I finally made tortillas after intending to do so all spring and summer.  They turned out very well!
-I confirmed that yes, I must really be getting sick again...the sore throat, tiredness, decreased appetite have now been joined by low grade fever...sigh.
-Giving God thanks for the day, all it has held and still holds, His faithfulness in meeting every need, sustaining in all things!

"This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Fall Semester 2012

Here I am at yet another school year. I have been through an intensely busy summer, with absolutely no break or vacation.

Honestly, I am physically, mentally, emotionally exhausted after an intense summer and no break.  However, I also know this is the way God allowed things to work. I also know His grace is sufficient and that He meets every need.  If I lack something, then I obviously don't need it right now.  Because, He is sufficient for all, there is no cause to worry about the school year or how worn down and burnt out I am.  Instead, I must give Him thanks and praise for carrying me through the summer and rely on Him for strength to go forward.  

Recipe: Cookie Dough Smoothie

A “healthy” cookie dough smoothie was one of my relatively recent experiments that turned out quite well! This is actually two separate recipes and both are great on their own.  First make the cookie dough and allow it to freeze.  Once frozen, it can be used whenever desired for smoothies, ice cream, or nibbling!

The cookie dough recipe was loosely based on a recipe I saw…it looked like a cross between chocolate chip cookie dough and shortbread cookie dough…so that is what I did…along with a few other twists I have been slowly incorporating into some of my cookie recipes.

Smoothie recipe…you may ask?  Sorry, it doesn’t exist.  This is one that I just dumped things together, turned on the blender…and the result was amazing.  Thus, I continue to just dump in the same set of ingredients (most of the time-sometimes I get creative and try other things). 

“Healthy” Cookie Dough Smoothie

Make cookie dough and form into small balls.  Freeze.  Make smoothie.  Gently stir in some cookie dough balls (this is going to be arbitrary-thus to taste!).  Pour into glass and enjoy!  Of course, the cookie dough will interfere with the effectiveness of a straw for those who like to use straws for smoothies. 

Actual “recipes”

Recipe 1: Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
tried/created 7/24/12

½ c butter, softened
½ c oil
1 ½ c brown sugar
1 t vanilla
2 ¼ c whole wheat flour
1 t salt
~1 c mini chocolate chips (~ ½ 12-oz pkg)

Cream butter and brown sugar, stir in oil and vanilla.  Stir together flour and salt and add to wet ingredients-mix well.  Add chocolate chips and stir in.  Shape into balls of desired size.  These can be “bite-sized” for cookie dough snacking/desserts.  Or, these can be made very small to add to ice cream or smoothies. Note: dough will be crumbly.

Recipe 2: Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
disclaimer: not an actual recipe!

Frozen banana
Peanut butter (I use natural)
milk

Break the frozen banana into chunks and place the chunks in a blender.  Add a spoonful of peanut butter and pour in some milk.  Blend until desired consistency.  If too thick, add more milk. 

Enjoy!

Pictures! (Yes, I know the order is backward, but I'm too tired to deal with it now. Also, please ignore dates/times-they are incorrect.)

Finished smoothie!

 cookie dough on top of smoothie

 Smoothie

 Blending

 peanut butter on top of banana

 frozen banana

 cookie dough!

 little cookie dough balls, heading for freezer