Cashew Oatmeal Cookies

Dear Matt-

Thanks for going to pick up that saw off of craigslist with the husband. You rock. By the way, I hear you shoot archery, want to go shoot some foam animals sometime? Hope you like the cookies.
~Steph

Yup that's pretty much the gist of the note I sent along with these cookies. I've never met Matt, and that note to him doesn't sound creepy at all as a first time intro... ok yes, yes it does.


Do you buy stuff off craigslist? We totally have, although sometimes you meet some seriously interesting people... apparently the guy selling the saw was one of them... glad I wasn't there! :) Thanks again Matt!

mmm leaning tower of cookies

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
recipe found on Food Fitness Fun

Ingredients:
½ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (truth be told I used cashew butter)
1/3 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
½ cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray.
Combine the first five ingredients [through salt] in a medium bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, butter, peanut butter and buttermilk together.
Stir in flour mixture until a soft dough forms.
Add chocolate chips.
Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and place on prepared cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.
Flatten gently with the back of a spoon.
Bake 10-14 minutes.

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Pull Apart Loaf

The smell of yeast and cinnamon filled the house while I was making this bread. I think people should stop buying air fresheners and just start baking bread at home. There is nothing compared to this smell out there. PLUS you get to eat tasty bread at the end of it... can't say that about an air freshener!


You start with a yeast based dough and roll it out thin. 1 Tbs melted butter or oil brushed on top, along with 1/3 cup sucanat and 2 Tbs cinnamon.


Slice into long strips and stack them up. This part was the hardest part... sucanat was falling all over the place, but I think it still turned out looking pretty awesome.


Slice your long strip into sections and stack them into a loaf pan. Let rise 30 minutes, then bake for 30. Unmold, and have fun pulling the pieces apart and enjoying! I felt like this needed some icing to make it more dessert like... but if you are having this as a more breakfast treat it's perfect as is.

*drool*

I followed along with this recipe via Naturally Ella. I didn't have almond oil or milk on hand though so I used melted butter and fat free milk (making these not vegan) but since everyone at the party was a carnivore I wasn't worried :) I also made this in a loaf pan whereas she used a jumbo muffin tin for individual serving sizes.


Cinnamon Fantails
By: Naturally Ella

Ingredients

* 3/4 cup almond milk
* 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
* 1 tablespoon maple syrup
* 2 tablespoons almond oil
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
* 6 tablespoons warm water
* 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or regular whole wheat flour)
* 1/2-1 cup unbleached all purpose flour (I ended up adding 1.5 cups)

Filling

* 1 tablespoon almond oil
* 1/3 cup sucanat
* 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions

* In a small bowl combine ground flax seed and water, set aside. Heat almond milk (either in a sauce pan or microwave)- don't let it get too hot (I zapped mine in the microwave for about a minute.)
* In a stand mixer bowl, add milk, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for about five minutes or until yeast activates. Add in oil, flax seed mixture, salt, and the wheat flour. Give a good stir with a spoon and then turn on the mixer with the dough hook. Begin adding the all-purpose flour 1/4 cup at a time, letting it mix in before adding more. You want your dough to be soft (but not sticky) and the key to that is adding just enough flour so that it pulls away from the sides of the bowl but may still slightly stick to the bottom and letting it knead for 5-8 minutes.
* Once the dough is here, scoop out of the bowl, form into a ball, place back in the bowl, brush it with a oil, and let it sit in a warm, draft free spot for 1- 1 1/2 hours.
* Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into a 8 by 12 rectangle. Brush oil over surface and sprinkle with sucanat and cinnamon. Cut the dough into 6 strips (cutting the shorter of the length-it's easier to handle.) Stack the strips on top of each other and cutting downward, cut 6 pieces for jumbo muffin tins or 8-10 for regular size muffin tins. Brush muffin tins with oil and place each piece in the tin. Cover and let rise again.
* After about a half hour of rising, pre-heat your oven to 350˚. Once rolls have risen and oven is up to temperature, bake for 15-20 minutes. Fantails should be firm to the touch and golden brown. Remove from oven and eat warm! You can also add your favorite icing but these were delicious even without the extra sugar!

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Xyla and cookies

Happy Monday! Did everyone have a good weekend/ Easter / Passover? What did you all do to celebrate?

Recently I was asked if I'd like to give a product called Xyla a try. I'd never heard of it so let me explain a little to start. "Xylitol is an all natural sugarless sweetener from birch trees. It's the same sweetness and consistency as sugar and is completely natural. Many people call it birch sugar. However it has 40% fewer calories, 75% fewer carbs, and is safe for diabetics. Xylitol also has a laundry list of health benefits like cavity prevention, and much more."

I was very interested in giving this all natural sweetener a try. As you can see it really does look like sugar, and it acts like it when you cream it with butter, or mix it with other ingredients (something that doesn't always happen with some alternative sweeteners).

I first whipped up a batch of those whole wheat chocolate chip cookies that we've been loving up at our house. They came out great subbing Xyla for the white sugar in the recipe!

Next a made a batch of those PB cupcakes I told you about on Friday. Again, amazing! In all truth it's making me question my go to "fake" sweetener... hmmmmm

Other things that make me question what I buy... a sweet deal!

Now here's the fun part. First they are offering us a 10% off coupon if you want to go try some. Just use the coupon code: FIRST It will takes 10% off any order at www.emeraldforestxylitol.com

But an even better deal is this one: "We are giving away the first 5,000 bags (of Xyla) at no charge. All you have to do is add $20 of products to your cart online, and a complimentary 1lb bag of Xylitol will appear in your cart immediately - no charge - no coupon required. That's an $8 value at no charge." So if you were planning on give some products a try, go check it out!

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Vegan PB cupcakes

Peanut butter and chocolate, is there really a better combination? I don't think so... it's just SO good. I actually found this recipe via a link on twitter. Wing it Vegan was telling Hannah of Bittersweet how much she enjoyed her cupcakes (featured in her cookbook My Sweet Vegan: passionate about dessert .) I quickly clicked over and was so excited with what I found.




Self Frosting Peanut Butter Cupcakes. Truth be told if you go over to Wing it vegan for the recipe you will see her cupcakes really look frosted... whereas mine just look marbled. This is because I think I did something wrong... Instead of 12 cupcakes I got 14 very full cupcakes.. and I didn't have enough room to put all the chocolate self frosting on top without them all overflowing. So I only used 1/2 the frosting recipe... and I didn't swirl it around like I was suppose to... since I didn't most sunk to the middle so you had a frosting like chocolate center! It was actually pretty awesome that way!


Either way you make them, these are a winner. Every person at work loved them. LOVED them. And even though they don't have any oil or butter Hannah somehow figured out how to make them have a cupcake texture. Seriously it's like biting into a moist cake, no sturdy muffin here. Vegan or not, go make these, you will NOT be disappointed.

So what's your favorite part about making vegan baked goods? Mine is being able to totally lick the bowl without even a glimmer of worry I'm going to get sick from raw eggs. :)

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A baby on the way - bird mobile

A friend and his wife are expecting a baby ANY DAY now. Scary. He's been going a bit batty lately worrying about said incoming baby. I really shouldn't be giving advice to worrying parents to be.

EXAMPLE:
J: I'm freaking out, the baby is due in a few weeks... I'm never going to get any sleep again...
S: Yeah... that's gonna suck big time... maybe you should get some extra sleep now cause it's gonna be done for once that baby gets here.
J: *blink* *blink*
S: Oh umm you were looking for sympathy huh... riiiggght it will be fine, I'm sure the baby will sleep buckets!


Yeahhh... note to self... keep baby advice to yourself! :)

Instead of giving more advice as a gift I decided to make this cute bird mobile instead! It's made up of small scraps of material left from other projects. I love how this came together.

Pattern from One Yard Wonders.

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Honey Oat Bread

Dear Bread,

I'm still madly in love with you. Why do we go so long without seeing each other... I want to see you everyday and run through fields of daisies together...
Love steph chows

In all truth, if I let myself, I'd probably bake a loaf of bread 3 times a week... and I'd probably weigh a good 20 lbs more than I do right now. Who we kidding, it would be more like 5 times a week and 50 lbs. It's a good thing I have at least a tiny bit of self restraint... Not once the bread is made though, all bets are off and I'm eating half the loaf... but self restraint in allowing myself to bake said bread. As my dad always said "you've got to pick and choose your battles" I think he said this after discovering I had unstapled and torn up the carpeting in my bedroom... and I was surprised I wasn't getting yelled at for said spur of the moment redecorating session. Oh come on you know you did something similar to your parents.. spill it :)

Back to the love of my life, bread, I mean John... Hi honey! This Honey Oat Bread was hanging out over at the Baking Barrister, and if she said it was tasty, I knew it had to be, that girl knows what she's talking about. Her loaf is much prettier than mine.. and she remembered to do the egg wash with oats on top for added flair... I forgot... cause I'm awesome like that.


The other ironic thing is she warned she used too large of a loaf pan, so I haphazardly grabbed the smaller of my two loaf pans and figured i was good to go... nope, it was still too big. Score another one for me being awesome.

So if you actually follow the directions this will look like sandwich bread. The only change I made was using 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose flour. Otherwise I stuck to the recipe.

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Pierce

I love Warby Parker! And it's official, I'm a nerd!! Ok I know all of my classmates from middle school on up are probably thinking.. umm Steph... hate to tell you, but you've been a nerd for a LONG time...

I fully embrace my nerdom. I *heart* nerds. And I heart my awesome new Pierce glasses :) Don't forget for every pair you buy, Warby Parker donates a pair to a person in need. Doesn't get any cooler than that!

Do you wear glasses or are you a contacts kinda person? I'll always wear my glasses, I love them way too much to give them up :)

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Sloppy Joe

This type of sloppy joe isn't the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the word... I think of these.


And then I proceed to drool all over the place because I'm in LOVE with those sandwiches, in LOVE I tell you.

Today I bring you what most of you probably think of when you hear sloppy joes. This time it's an almost meatless version from Cooking Light. Mine didn't look like their picture... not even close (maybe I need to grate the carrots more finely next time), but it was tasty and I'd make it again for sure.

My only change was I used fresh ground lean chicken breast instead of the sirloin they called for.
You can find the recipe here at Cooking Light.

Have you ever had the sloppy joe version I'm talking about? Think you'd love it too?

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Brownies and Milk

We had a sunny weekend!! Finally spring was here this weekend. It was sunny and in the 60's, and I'm jumping for joy! To celebrate I decided to make a batch of brownies. There is just something so comforting about brownies and milk. Maybe it's the memories making brownies with my Mom, either way this recipe is a keeper for sure.

I found it over at What would Cathy Eat and it's delicious!

Are you a milk with your brownies kinda girl/boy or maybe a scoop of icecream with them? Or straight up plain!? And don't you love the retro milk jug? It was my Nana's, too cute not to use.

Decadent Lowfat Brownies
recipe by What would Cathy Eat

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate (she used a Ghirardelli 70% baking bar) (I used Pure Dark Slab provided to me by Foodbuzz tastemaker program)
2 T. water
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 egg + 2 egg whites
2 t. vanilla
1/2 c. sugar (I used splenda)
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 T. canola oil
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (I left these out)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, heat the chocolate and water on very low heat, stirring until melted. Stir in the applesauce. In a bowl, vigorously whisk together the egg and egg whites, vanilla, sugars and canola oil. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Add the dry ingredients and mix briefly. Fold in the walnuts.

Spray an 8×8″ metal baking pan with oil. Spread the batter in the pan and bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

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Nothing... and shoes

Happy Friday everyone! I totally admit it... I've got nothing for you today... well nothing food related. On a totally unfood related note, want to talk about shoes? Chicks like shoes right? Actually I'm a comfy shoe kinda girl. Don't get me wrong I think shoes can be super cute and fun... but I never wear them, because I like to be comfy (and be able to run away from someone at a moments notice- priorities people).

However I was in a store recently and saw these... and bought them... (you can't tell in the pic below but they have a fun ruffle detail, you can see it here. I found them in Marshalls though for half that price... awesomeness)

I wore them to a meeting yesterday (I'm such a grownup) and immediately got made fun of by my boss since while we were walking from the parking lot into the building he had to wait for me to catch up... and then informed me that Niki (awesome coworker) can haul ass in heels... I informed him that she wears them everyday and has mad skills, whereas I'm still learning... Silly men.

So tell me dear readers. Are you a form over function kinda girl? Or are you a comfy all the way kinda girl? I'm a comfy 99.9% of the time... but sometimes a girls gotta have fun right?

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Maple Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

A few weeks ago my boss walked into my office and said "hey want to go see the lion king? I've got 4 tickets and I can't go anymore" ummm YES!!! My coworker, her boyfriend, another friend and myself found ourselves sitting in the 5th row in total amazement just hours later. (John was invited but he politely declined wanting to go - silly man) It was memorizing, the choreography, the costumes! And grown up Simba was a hottie! (bonus points since he was shirtless the whole time)... what? is that wrong to say? Can't a girl appreciate some man meat? Have you ever been? You would have thought he was hot too.

Anyway.... to thank my boss I made him a batch of Maple Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. And they were amazing!! Crisp on the outside with a nice chew in the middle these things are not on the healthy list. No sir, these are on the butter and sugar list.

Remember how I went to Trout Brook Sugarhouse a few weeks ago for a 24x24? While there I picked up a bag of their pancake mix and a cookie recipe. (both created by the son of the owner). The cookies they had out to sample were delicious so I knew I wanted to buy some of the pancake mix so I could make them up too. (The raisin addition was all me... I know I'm just so inventive sometimes I can't help it...)

Maple Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
recipe by Trout Brook Sugarhouse
Makes 2 dozen

1 stick butter (1/2 cup) softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbs maple syrup
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups Trout Brook Peter's Pancake mix (ingredient lists includes: flour, oats, oat flour, molasses powder, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, natural flavor)
1/2 cup raisins (my addition)

Beat together butter and sugar, add in vanilla maple syrup and egg. Slowly mix in pancake mix and fold in raisins. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

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Pretty Potato Side Dish

This weekend wasn't very eventful. We worked in the yard (the winter totally killed ours, how about you?) After what felt like 8 hours we gave up on it and called it a day. Other exciting things included painting John's man cave, looking into sofas, and lots of laundry.. we sure do know how to live on the wild side... Please tell me you all did something more exciting??

Anyway, on a totally unrelated note, sometimes side dishes can be so boring and colorless... enter in these crazy easy potatoes! Simply cubed up with some onions, a good helping of rosemary, black pepper, a little sea salt and olive oil. Toss and you are good to go!

Chop up into equal size pieces:

1 large yam
3 medium red skin potatoes
1 medium onion

Drizzle with olive oil

Add rosemary, black pepper, sea salt to taste.

After mixed together dump onto a tin foil lined pan, roast at 350 tossing around every 10 minutes. Roast for a total of 35-45 minutes or until browned.

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PB Agave Vegan Cookies

I'm still cooking up a storm from vegan cookies invade your cookie jar... but I full admit I tweeked this recipe a bit too much... whoops. They are great to dunk in a glass of milk, but otherwise they were a bit too dry for my taste. I'll take another go at this one and then let you know what I did :)

In other news... have you heard of Warby Parker? They sell prescription eyeglasses for $95 and for every pair you buy, they donate a pair to a person in need! Go check them out, I'm in love with them, and the glasses are fabulous! I think I found a new fun pair to wear when I'm feeling a little more nerdy than usual. Whatcha think??

Your email will never be displayed on this site or stored, it's only there so I can email you back directly if you have questions. Don't worry I wont spam you!!! Unless you want me to send you some of the lunch meat... :D

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