Finally Moving

Welp, last time I posted, little did I know I was on my way down a steep slope of sickness.

For the past week I've been a feverish, snot producing, nose blowing, never-ending cough machine. Yes, lovely, I know. I tried to stay hydrated and eat as many healthy foods as I could, but with my throat being so painfully raw, all I managed to eat was mostly bananas, soup, and Bocca burgers (i.e., anything that could be easily chewed into mush).

I was doing pretty well until Sunday. I even mustered up enough energy to go for a walk in the park with Jon. It was such a nice day, I couldn't pass it up.

The sunshine was great, however after about 2 hours of being outside, I had to sit and gather myself. We went back in the car and I knew we had to go home. I was so exhausted and feeling just terrible. When we got home, I crawled in bed and slept for 3 hours.

Come Monday, I was not healed. That vicious cold virus led into an ear infection. Currently, I cannot hear too well out of my left ear, my ears are constantly ringing, but I have some antibiotics to help.

Needless to say, I was a lump for the past week. I did not cook, I did not train - I slept, medicated, and watched too much TV. Oh well, you have to deal with the things you cannot control and hope for the best. I hope to get back on the treadmill tomorrow morning before work for a few miles.The half marathon is at the end of this month!!! I have to get back on track with my training and make up for my lost time.

Today is the first day I feel half way back to human (cough is subsiding, sniffles have just about vanished), and what luck, I got to bake today, too! Tomorrow is a co-worker's last day, so we're throwing her a farewell breakfast bash.

I volunteered to make . . .

Carrot Cake Breakfast Bites
You'll need:
1 C gluten free flour
1/2 rolled oats
1/2 unsweetened coconut
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
Dash ground clove
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1 C shredded carrots (about 4 medium carrots)
1/2 C raisins (soaked for about an hour)
1/2 C coconut oil (softened in microwave for about 30 seconds)
1/2 C maple syrup
1 t vanilla extract

To make:
1. Preheat oven to 350' and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper
2. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, coconut, baking powder, salt and spices.
3. Add in walnuts and raisins. Stir.
4. In a small bowl, combine softened coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and carrots. Add mixture to the large bowl of dry ingredients and combine until thoroughly mixed.
5. Roll dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on to lined cookie sheet.
6. Bake for about 13 minutes. Let cool before removing from sheet.

The cookies are soft, sweet, and very easy to eat...for breakfast! They have a healthy serving of vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber from the carrots. They're a slow-release carbohydrate (from the oats) which provide a steady source of energy, contain omega-3s, protein, and fiber from the walnuts, and have healthy sugars to satisfy a morning sweet tooth. So go ahead and have one or two to get you through your morning.

Low Fat Banana Maple Oatmeal Cookies

Weekends have been my sanctuary lately.

They've been my crunch-time fun time without a moment to lose. . .

 . . .filled with good company. . .

(Me and my family)

(Me and Jon)

. . .fun adventures . . .

Maple sap collecting in a deer skin pouch at Wolf Maple for Maple Weekend In Western NY

Maple glazed pop corn!

Cows munching on some dinner . . .yum, green tongue.

Jon and I visited Wolf Maple in Middleport, NY for Maple weekend. They had a bluegrass band (which was awesome), a variety of maple treats (including some super tasty soft serve maple ice cream), tours of their maple tree taps, and a bunch of very nice and knowledgeable sap collectors.

We learned about how the trees produce different grades of sap throughout the year (light, amber, medium, and dark), and how much weather factors into the production of good maple sap. The tour guide even let us put our finger under the tap to taste the sap dripping out of the tree. It was watery and slightly sweet!

We visited their gift shop and were surrounded by a plethora of maple flavored/inspired treats. I like to buy locally and support the people who work through a family business, so I picked up a couple items. I bought a ketchup bottle looking container of pure, homemade maple syrup for only $11. It was light in grade, but it was all natural and would have cost a small fortune in my local co-op.

I knew just what to make with my newly purchased maple. . .cookies!

With some help from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, I created these:

Banana-Maple Oatmeal Cookies (Gluten free, too!)

You'll need:

1 T ground flaxseed

2 tablespoons water

1 cup rolledolled oats

1 cup gluten free flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup raisins (I used golden raisins)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 banana, mashed

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice To make: 1. Preheat the oven to 375. 2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the ground flaxseed with the water and set aside. 3. Mix the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a separate medium mixing bowl. Add the raisins. 4. Add the maple syrup, vanilla, mashed banana, and lemon juice to the flax mixture and combine well. Pour into the dry mixture and stir well. 5. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined parchment paper. 6. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until bottoms and sides are lightly brown.

These cookies were soft and chewy. They were slightly sweet, but the raisins gave each bite a nice burst of sugar here and there. Also, they are gluten free and virtually fat free so, no guilt! :)

How do you spend your weekends - catching up on chores or making up for lost fun time?
Do you have a favorite maple recipe?

Easy Vegan Cut Out Cookies (The stoned, the funny, the angry, and the appropriate)

Cut out cookies bring back wonderful childhood memories for me; they were not just synonymous with Christmas, but with almost every holiday - Valentine's day (cut out lips and hearts frosted pink), St. Patrick's Day (shamrocks and leprechauns frosted green), Easter (eggs and ducks frosted yellow and purple).

We'd make a couple dozen and bring them to school to share with friends, make a little cookie tray for the grandparents, and of course keep a few in the house for an after school snack.

The best part of cut out cookies is the decorating. You have a cookie with a general shape, but what you make of it is all up to the imagination!

My sister and I have a lot of fun decorating our family's Christmas cut outs . . .

Bob Marley Christmas Cookie (with dreads, Rastafarian colors, and little doobie)

Business Man Christmas Cookie (complete with cell phone and tie)

And, a Very Angry Christmas Cookie (with red angry eyes and big scary teeth)



Yes, cooking is CREATIVITY!

These cookies, however, are not of the stoned, funny, or angry kind, they're of the cute kind!

I'm going to a baby shower tomorrow and offered to bring a vegan treat. My first instinct was . . .cookies! Of course. After some deliberation, I settled on cut out cookies.

I wanted to do something that tied into the nursery rhyme "...frogs, snails, and puppy dog tails - that's what little boys are made of", but I didn't think bringing frog or snail cut out cookies to a baby shower would go over too well. I could just imagine it: "You think my baby will look like a frog?!?", "My baby is not a slug!" . . . I opted for the safe, socially acceptable baby duck cookie cutter from Anne Clark Ltd.

Easy Vegan Cut Out Cookies

You'll need:

2 C unbleached, sifted flour

3/4 C white sugar

1 t baking powder

1/4 C applesauce

1/2 C canola oil

1 T pure vanilla extract

1/2 t cinnamon

To make:

1. Mix together dry ingredients in large mixing bowl

2. Mix together wet ingredients in a separate, smaller bowl

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and hand mix with a fork. Careful not to over mix; this will make the dough tough.

4. Take ball of dough from the bowl and place on floured counter top. With a rolling pin, roll out dough to about 1/2'' thickness.

5. Use your cookie cutters to cut shapes into the dough. Use a spatula to get cookies off counter top and onto parchment-lined cookie pan.

6. Cook cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes.

The cookies are not punchy sugar sweet, but more of a mild, shortbread-y flavor. If you really want to give them a sugar smack, frost them with vegan butter cream frosting!

Raw dough

Baked Cut Outs



Frosted and decorated (tastefully) for a baby shower!

Do you ever get silly when cooking/baking? What are some of your favorite cut out cookie shapes?

My Sister The Seal Whisperer and Super Easy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

To beat some winter boredom, Jon and I went to visit my sister at her internship in the Niagara Falls Aquarium. Right now she 's just working to help clean and prepare meals for the animals, but they also let her feed the seals and sea lions sometimes, too!

She was able to take us into the food (i.e., fish) storage fridges and also to where they prepare the meals. It was kind of cool seeing all the behind the scenes workings of a place like that. We learned that each animal needs a certain amount/kind of fish for their particular bucket, each animal had a different feeding time, mixed in with some shows here and there . . . there's so much happening at every moment, it's a wonder all the workers are able to keep a smile and friendly disposition. Props to them!

We were also lucky enough to see a sea lion show and penguin feeding!



We had a ton of fun. The best part was at the end, though, when we got to see my sister feed and get a smooch from a seal (below)!

Smooch! How cute is that?!?!

Here are a few more cool pictures I took from the day:

Before we left for the Aquarium, I had a bit of the baking bug and I've been craving cookies . . .so . . I came up with these easy, fast, healthy, gluten free, and vegan snack cookies!

Oatmeal Raisin Snack Cookies

You'll need:

1 1/3 C rolled oats

1 t cinnamon

1 t chia seeds (optional)

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t sea salt

4 T brown sugar

2 T turbino sugar (white sugar would work fine, too)

4 T raisins

2 T melted earth balance

4 T almond milk

To make:

1. Combine first 7 ingredients in a food processor until mixed. Contents should be somewhat ground up, but take care NOT to grind the whole thing up into a powder. You need to keep some of the oats in tact.

2. Pour your dry mix into a mixing bowl and add the raisins.

3. Next add the melted earth balance and almond milk. Mix all the way through until you have a clumpy 'dough' (it should be like a moist, clumpy granola).

4. Wet hands and form dough into 2'' balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten a bit with your palm or the bottom of a glass. Since these cookies are gluten free, they won't rise/spread like normal cookies would.

5. Bake at 375' for about 15 minutes. Makes about 15 cookies. Let cool and eat!





These cookies are dense, sweet, and will be the perfect snack for an afternoon cookie craving!

Tonight we're going to Allen Street Hardware for dinner. We've never been there before, but it came highly recommended and there were even a few delicious sounding vegetarian options (that were not just a salad!). What a great way to end the weekend. I'll let you  know how it is!

By the way, Stay tuned for a little surprise within the next couple days!

Have you done anything new/different this weekend? Make any delicious snacks?

Soft Ginger Cookies With Spiced Butter Cream Frosting (AKA: OMG, the best cookies I've ever made in my life)

I first made these cookies on a whim as just a vessel for the extra butter cream frosting I had made for a different project, but to my surprise, they turned out to be some of the most scrumptious cookies I've ever made in my whole life! What luck!

I cannot take any credit in any invention of these, though. Both the cookies and the frosting were created by Angela from Oh She Glows.

I was playing around in the kitchen with a Valentine's Day recipe, and when I was finished, I realized I had half a bowl of delicious vegan butter cream frosting left. I stared at it. It stared at me. "It'd be so easy to just eat the rest of that frosting with the spatula", I thought. But my conscience got the best of me and I decided to hop on the computer and find a quick cookie recipe that would compliment the butter cream frosting; at least then I could share the cookies.

I stumbled across these soft ginger cookies and thought they'd be a great pairing - that and I also just discovered I have a new love for ginger-flavored things.

Here's how it turned out . . .

Soft Ginger Cookies With Spiced Butter Cream Frosting

For the cookies, you'll need:

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp Earth Balance buttery stick
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 Flax egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp baking soda
2.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

To make the cookies:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mix flax egg in small bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the Earth Balance and sugar until combined. Add the molasses, maple syrup, flax egg, and vanilla and beat.
4. In a medium sized bowl sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt, clove). Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet while beating with a mixer to combine. Beat until smooth and mixed well.
5.With slightly wet hands, shape the dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Carefully flatten ball slightly with hand. Bake for 10 minutes at 350F. 

 For the frosting, you'll need:

(makes about 3/4-1 cup)

1/2 cup Earth Balance Butter Stick, softened
1 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp almond milk (as needed to thin out to desired consistency)

To make the frosting:

1. Whip the Earth Balance with a mixer until smooth.
2. Now add half of the icing sugar and blend well, stopping to scrape the side of bowl as needed.
3. Add in the vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and almond milk (if needed). Mix well.
4. Add in the remaining icing sugar and blend for several minutes, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl.

The result was a soft, spicy and sweet cookie that explodes with so many flavors with the addition of the butter cream. A very tasty treat, indeed!

Have you ever made a recipe on a whim that really impressed you?

Raw Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bites

This post is going to be short, sweet, and...raw.

Eating raw is similar to eating vegan in that it carries a stigma from the general population that eating/cooking this way is difficult, time consuming, and does not taste very good because it lacks ingredients like butter and milk.
This could not be further from the truth...and these cookies are proof - they are easy to make, flavorful, and are ready in no time.

In addition to being fast and easy, eating raw also provides many health benefits. By not heating food over 118 degrees Fahrenheit, it retains all of its nutrients and natural enzymes. When raw food is consumed, those nutrients and natural enzymes are placed directly into the body and provide a source of energy, enhance clarity of mind, and allow the body to work with what it was intended to (it doesn't have to work through synthetic ingredients and separate the good from the bad).

Raw Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bites
You'll need:
2/3 cup raw almonds
2/3 cup raw walnuts
2/3 cup steel cut oats
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup raw agave nectar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3-5 tbs raisins


To make:

1. In a food processor, process the almonds, walnuts, oats, cinnamon and salt to a fine meal.

2. Add the agave and vanilla and process to combine.

3. Add the raisins and pulse just to combine.

4. Roll the cookie dough into balls (about 1 tbsp each) and place them on a cookie pan lined with parchment paper.

5. Place the pan in the freezer for about an hour to firm up.

6. Store balls in a tightly covered container in the freezer.

The Baking Bug

Well, it looks like winter is starting to whisper around these parts.

See evidence below:

It's a beautiful yet terrifying transition into the season of winter. . .

Your windows are frosted, the leaves are dusted with a layer of icy crystals, you can see wisps of your breath when you exhale...it's on it's way and you know it. Old Man Winter is stretching his legs; he's preparing for total domination of our lives for the next 5 months or so. However, with ice, snow and temperatures leveling around 10'F, it sets people up for perfect winter adventures!

But, okay, we're only in November...even though it's bound to, the snow has not taken over. Still, when the weather gets chilly, I get the baking bug. No need to get a flu shot for this kind of bug, in fact, it's quite welcome.
Symptoms of the baking bug include:
- The urge to fill the house with the smell of some savory treat
- The love of the heat from the oven when you go to switch cookie trays
- The uncontrollable desire to sample the goodies you just made, even though you know they're still scorching hot, fresh from the oven

The cure for this bug is simple: bake!

Here's how I remedied:

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

What you'll need:

Dry:

2 C. quick cooking oats

1 2/3 C. whole wheat flour

2/3 C. cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 C. white sugar

2 Tbs. ground flax

Wet:

2/3 C. non-dairy milk (I use almond milk)

1/3 C. Canola oil

1/3 C. Apple sauce

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 C. dried raisins/cranberries/cherries (optional...but so good)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350' and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper

2. Stir together oats, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, ground flax, non-dairy milk until smooth.

4. Add the oil, applesauce, vanilla and almond extract to the wet mix and beat until well mixed.

4. Fold in half of the dry mixture, mix a bit, and then add the rest of the dry mixture.

5. Add the dried fruit (if desired). mix well.

6. Drop 2 generous Tbs of cookie dough on the parchment papered pan, spacing about 2in from each other.

7. Bake for 10-12 mins. When done, remove from oven and let rest on pan for about 5 mins to settle.

8. Remove from pan to wire rack to cool

9. Eat em!

 Do you love of loathe the changing weather? Do you ever get the baking bug? - How do you conquer your baking bug?