Oatmeal-walnut-prune cookies

Last night we had Adam's parents over for dinner to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary which was 9/17. Adam has become the head chef our house and I'm mostly in charge of appetizers and dessert. This is what I decided to make for the sweet treat of the night :)

Dry ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup spelt flour (or whole wheat flour, barley flour, brown rice flour, unbleached all-purpose flour)
1/4 cup date sugar (or maple sugar or any sugar of your liking)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Wet ingredients

1/2 cup safflower oil*

1/3 cup maple syrup 

1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp molasses

about 1/4 cup walnuts chopped
about 1/4 cup prunes chopped
I didn't measure the walnuts or plums so do what you think is the right amount...

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and mix.
3. Combine the wet ingredients in another bowl and mix.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix. Then add the chopped walnuts and prunes.
5. Form into cookies and bake for 10-12 minutes.

*I found the dough to be a bit oily but the cookies turned out perfectly. I do recommend using parchment paper because it makes for an easy clean up!

Juicing

I often get asked the question: 'which is better, juicing or blending?' My answer is I like them both, I think variety is the key, and long as you don't think of juicing as a replacement for veggies and fruit then you are golden! I mean tell me a better way to use your wilted kale?! My new favorite juice is kale + lime + celery + apple.

Pumpkin muffins

I'm currently on day four of a dairy-free diet because of some recent test results. So, I pulled out a good ol' cookbook, The Kind Diet, and made pumpkin muffins-- tis the season! The author of the book, Alicia Silverstone, is vegan and I've really been enjoying re-reading her book. I changed the recipe slightly so here it is:

Makes 12 muffins

Dry ingredients
2 cups spelt flour
1.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (no coco butter is not dairy)

Wet ingredients
2.5 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 cup date sugar (or sugar of your choice)
1 'egg' (1TBSP flax mill + 3 TBSP boiling water)
1/2 cup flax milk (or milk of your choice)
1/3 cup safflower oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tins with coconut oil (or oil of your choice). I recommend spraying your tins instead of using muffin liners.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and mix.
3. Combine the wet ingredients in another bowl and mix.
4. Combine wet & dry ingredients & mix.
5. Fill muffins and bake for 25 minutes.
6. Taste the batter just to be sure :)
7. Set a timer and see how fast you can clean up.
8. No really do it-- Ready.Set.Go.

Vegetarian Chili Rellenos

This is a spin off the recipe from last October! Adam made these last week before we went to Santa Fe-- a little something to get us in the New Mexican spirit apparently. I thought it looked so pretty and he deserved a shout out! 

Eating our way through Santa Fe

Last weekend Adam and I went to Santa Fe for a belated birthday celebration with my parents. We enjoyed a lot of yummy food from Geronimos, Bouche, Vinaigrette (pictured) as well as Counter Culture and Café Pasquals. Mom made me my favorite chocolate chip coffee cake... are you drooping like I am looking back at these pictures? Can't wait to return in two months and have my siblings and nephews there too! 

Crab cakes

Well it's taken some time but we have finally found our crab cakes recipe. Not a lot of filler, just a heart crab patty-- seasoned and cooked to perfection.

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon mayo

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 large egg                               

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1/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

2 cans fancy lump crab                               

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

 

-To prepare crab cakes, combine first 8 ingredients. Add panko and crab, tossing gently to combine. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.
-Form 3 cakes
- Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil (preferably grapeseed or canola) in a large skillet over medium-high heat. -Add crab cakes to pan, cook 4 minutes or until bottoms are golden.

Granola bars

These are the real deal. Both kids and adults love them, they're good for breakfast, a snack, or a desert, and most of all they are preservative free and made with LOVE!

Makes one 8″ square pan of granola bars – how many bars depends on how you cut them up!

Ingredients:

Oat mixture:
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 c shredded coconut 
1 cup dried fruit
optional: up to 1 cup seeds (sesame, flax, sunflower – any that strike your fancy, or all)

Binder:
1/2 c honey 
1/2 c brown sugar 
1/2 stick butter 
1/2 t salt

First start the granola – it will take a while to get really toasty.  Heat the oven to 350F. Toast the oats on their own for about 15 minutes, then add the nuts and coconut, and the seeds if you are using them, and toast for another 15 minutes or so.  Set the timer to remind you to stir/check the mixture every 5 minutes.  It tastes best if you get it really golden brown and toasty, but the coconut and nuts can burn if you forget and leave it for even a few minutes.  Add the fruit after you finish toasting the oat mixture. When the toasting is complete, put all into a large heatproof bowl.  Metal would be the safest, as we will be adding hot sugar syrup to the mixture.

While the granola is toasting in the oven, you can start cooking the honey butter to bind the bars together. In a medium sauce pan, stir together the ingredients for the binder (honey, brown sugar, butter, salt). Bring to a boil over low-medium heat, and allow to cook at a low boil, gently, for 5 minutes or so.  If it doesn’t boil long enough, the bars will still be delicious, but may fall apart a bit.
Take the honey mix off the heat and let it cool a little, 5 minutes or so. Pour the syrup onto the granola and turn and stir until it is well covered. Pour mixture into an 8 inch square greased pan.
Put a sheet of plastic wrap over the top, then press down firmly until the stuff is flat and packed into the pan. Pay special attention to pressing around the edges – it will be crumbly there when you cut them up if it is not pressed down well. Let the mixture cool for several hours or overnight.
Lift the whole slab out of the pan onto a cutting surface and cut the bars with a big heavy knife in whatever shapes you like!