Tag Archives: recipes

Husband’s favorite cookie – Oatmeal Raisin

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Since my husband is feeling pretty poor at the moment, I thought I would spoil him a little bit and make him his favorite cookie – Oatmeal Raisin. I make them bite size, well bite size and a 1/2 🙂

 

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This recipe is using 1/2 measures of the Quakers oats “Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies” recipe.

Ingredients

1 stick of butter (1/4 pound), softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of quaker oats (I prefer old fashioned oats uncooked)
1/2 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In one medium bowl, add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars together until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. Add flour mix to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in oats and raisins, mix well. Drop rounded 1/2 – 1 tablespoons of mixture onto a non-greased cookie sheet ( I actually use a silicone baking sheet I bought @ crate and barrel). Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on a cookie sheet, remove to wire rack.

This makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Let me know what your favorite cookie or the favorite cookie of someone close to you….do you have a recipe – feel free to leave a link below in the comments 🙂

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Garden update + Meal plan {04.14.2013}

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Finally, Spring arrived and we have had an amazing amount of pollen fall this week. This picture was my attempt to try and sweep the pollen of the deck. Yes, all that yellow dust is pollen. I have lived in several places, and North Carolina is the only place I have seen this visible layer of pollen.

Good news, with the warmer weather, my winter vegetable garden has taken off. I picked the first lot of spinach, which we made into a salad for dinner tonight.

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My first head of broccoli is nearly ready, I am thinking I can harvest it over the next day or two.
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The cabbages, carrots and cauliflower are coming along. We tried a couple of the carrots but they are still quite small – the rest of these will be ready in the next 3-4 weeks.

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Our meal plan this week includes some of our fresh vegetables, which saved us a little money. I did really well this week with staying away from sugar and process foods. I even got outside one lunch, at work, to exercise !!!

DAY BREAKFAST DINNER EXERCISE
Saturday Granola + Soy Yoghurt + Banana Beef tips (from meat house) + Spinach salad
Sunday Whole wheat banana buttermilk Pancakes Broccoli + Tomato Fettuccine (GF) Walk 3-4 miles
Monday Bircher Muesli “Fried” Rice (Brown rice and vegetables – prepared over the weekend)
Tuesday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Vegetarian Burgers + Salad 3-4 Mile Walk
Wednesday Bircher Muesli Zpizza (Pizza with whole wheat crust and organic ingredients) 20 mins. HIT
Thursday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Vegetable Pasta Bake (prepared over the weekend)
Friday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Grilled fish + salad 20 mins. HIT

We are usually spending ~$70 a week only, for our meals. This week we were well under…here is our shopping list:

GROCERY LIST (NEW STOCK) IN THE CUPBOARD/FRIDGE
  • Strawberries (TJ)
  • Blueberries (TJ)
  • Bananas (TJ)
  • Baby carrots (TJ)
  • Mushrooms (TJ)
  • Lettuce (TJ)
  • Tomatoes (TJ)
  • Soy Milk (TJ)
  • Low-fat herb cream cheese (TT)
  • Juice (TJ, TT)
  • Brown Rice (TJ)
  • Gluten Free Pasta (TT)
  • Vegetable Stock (TT)
  • Onions (TJ)
  • Spinach (from the garden)
  • Broccoli (from the garden)
  • Bell Peppers(TJ)
  • Cucumber (TJ)
  • Garlic (TT)
  • Apples (TJ)
  • Butter (TJ)
  • Flour/ WW and GF (TT)
  • Granola (TT or BJ)
  • Oats (BJ)
  • Frozen Peas + Corn (TJ)
  • Vegetable Patties (TJ)
  • Sultanas (TT)
  • Stir Fry Sauce (TT)

NOTE: We shop majority at Trader Joe’s (TJ), Target (TT) with an occasional visit to Whole foods (WF), BJ’s , Harris Teeters (HT), Lowes Food (LF) and Fresh Market (FM).
NOTE: We do not typically use coupons mainly due to time.
NOTE: Items indicated by * are specials for the week we took advantage of.

How are your vegetable gardens going? What meals do you have planned this week? Leave a link in the comments below and I will check them out.

Fighting the sweet tooth

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One of my goals, that I did not do well on last month was avoiding sugar. I put it down as a goal for this month as well. Tonight, I was really wanting something sweet, so to combat the craving I made chocolate date truffles. They are nice and quick to make and all you need is a food processor.

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Ingredients

15-20 dates
1/4 cup of cocoa (unsweetened)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup coconut (unsweetened)

Soak the dates in a bowl of boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and place in a kitchen whizz (food processor) along with the other ingredients. Pulse a few times (~ 2 mins).

Roll the mixture into balls and either roll then in coconut or cocoa powder (above I used cocoa). Place in the refrigerator to cool and set.

Alternatives:
I have seen other people who have made these without oats and replace them with almond, walnuts, hazelnuts or almond butter. I like the oaty taste more than the nutty taste. You could also add vanilla essence for flavor.