Cookies!!

I made the best oatmeal raisin cookies tonight.  And I don’t mind saying so.

But really, here’s the thing.  I love to bake.  Just ask my mom, I used to make cookies and brownies all the time when I was growing up.  You know, back when my metabolism was fast as lightening and I could eat five brownies in one sitting.  With chocolate chips in them and also probably icing on top.

Chris doesn’t believe me when I tell him about the good old days, because I hardly ever bake now for fear of eating the final product.  The last thing I need is a batch of cookies hanging around this apartment, let’s be real. I have enough problems keeping my spoon out of the peanut butter jar.

But tonight I got the itch to bake because my friend just took an apartment down the street from us and I was going to meet her there to check it out.  And so I thought I’d bring her cookies because she is very thin and if she’s living this close, we need to be sharing clothes, which means I need to fatten her up a little.  So I went by the store while walking Jack and bought some raisins.  I selected the ones in miniature boxes because I knew there would be leftovers and – as we’ve all seen – I need portion control around dried fruit.

Then I came home and turned Dreena’s vegan chocolate chip cookies into an oatmeal cookie recipe by using:

* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

* 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

* 1/2 cup oats

* 1 tsp baking powder

* 1/2 tsp baking soda

* 1/4 cup brown sugar

* 1/4 tsp salt

* 1/3 cup maple syrup

* 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

* 1/4 cup canola oil

* 3 oz (two mini boxes) raisins

* A small handful of chopped walnuts

* 2 – 3 T ground flax

Combine the dry, combine the wet, mix together and add the raisins and walnuts.  Bake for eleven minutes at 350.  I mean eleven minutes, too.  Not ten.  Not twelve.  ELEVEN.  Otherwise they’ll dry out, says Deena, who, by the way, is a genius, so I believe her.

I made eight huge cookies.  I didn’t realize they would be that big or else I would’ve made them smaller.  Not that I didn’t manage to eat one and half, plus some batter:

I really think these could be a healthy snack, what with all the fiber and raisins and walnuts and flax.  They are downright good for you.

Oh – and dinner, which was a total after thought, was stir fry with quinoa, tempeh, vegetables, and this sauce:

I couldn’t eat all this, so I put some back.  I am going to try desperately to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  I hate leftovers.

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Dinner + Breakfast

Just want to add last night and this morning quickly – it is so nice here that I have to get back outside immediately.  I think it’s going to be 73º!  I think I’m going to go meet a friend and do some shopping because I’m all about spending money that I do not have.

Last night for dinner I made stir fry with tempeh, broccoli, snow peas, peppers, carrots, mushrooms and udon noodles:

I have actually only used tempeh one other time, and I don’t remember liking it that much, but this time I loved it.  I think I may never use tofu again.  Also, I finally made a peanut/soy sauce that I really like so I’m going to post the recipe in that section.

And then, I did it again.  I made the cookies.  I knew this was going to be a problem.  I made the same amount again, and had 2 1/2.  Here’s one up close:

They are so good, I really can’t believe it.  Make them now.  Well, maybe it would be more appropriate to wait until after 10 a.m.

This morning for breakfast I had yogurt, raisin bran, banana and flax:

I managed to not go back for more cereal, which is quite remarkable, really.

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Dinner, more figs, chocolate

I made sesame peanut noodles with tofu and vegetables for dinner:

I would post the recipe, but I have no idea what I did, really.  It’s basically peanut butter, a lime, soy sauce, maple syrup, vegetable broth, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes and a little sherry.  Heavy on the peanut butter, use the whole lime, maybe 2 – 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, a tablespoon of maple syrup, and enough broth to get the consistency you want.  Keep in mind it will thin out a little if you’re putting it on hot vegetables (which, if you’re impatient like me, you are).  Experiment and taste as you go.  I had sauce left over.

I was not, unfortunately, able sneak any figs in there, but I did snag two before we went on a walk with Jack:

Fuel, people.

Now I’m having a handful of chocolate chips:

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Experimental stir fry

I am getting better and better at stir fry sauce.  It used to be awful, and poor Chris would choke it down.  I’m surprised he even lets me make it anymore.  But I think I’m finally figuring it out.  It’s always a little too watery, because I don’t want to use corn starch, but it tastes good and that’s all that matters.  I’m going to just outline the recipe here because I didn’t really use exact measurements, as usual.  Sorry, but I’m a much better cook if I make it up as I go along.

Basically I made a sauce with a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil, about two tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce, a couple tablespoons of vegetable broth, about a pour of maple syrup, fresh ginger, about a 1/2 tablespoon of peanut butter, a teaspoon of hoisin and some cayenne pepper.   The amounts are mostly estimates, so taste as you go along.  I whisked it all together to get this:

It looks gross, but it tasted good!  Finally.

I used another teaspoon of sesame oil to cook some tofu (about half a block), and then at the very end threw in a little of the sauce to make it crispy and caramelized:

Okay, it’s not crispy and caramelized in this picture, because I took it before all the exciting caramelization occured.  Use your imagination.

Next, I set the tofu aside and cooked some garlic, broccoli, mushrooms and bok choy:

When it was done, I mixed it all together – the tofu, the vegetables, the sauce and some brown rice.  I threw some walnuts in too at the last minute, which prompted Chris to tell me that his portion had some “very hard pieces of rice.”  Boys.

Here’s the finished product:

See?  A little watery.  Which sucks because that means you can’t eat all of the sauce (unless you break out a spoon, which believe me, I thought about it).  But still good.

No dessert – too full!  Fiber.  But I did snag two chocolate covered raisins out of Chris’s stash about an hour ago.

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