Carrot Cake Cookies

I have an unhealthy obsession with carrot cake. Case in point: I took Grandma to my favorite restaurant for brunch in DC last weekend, Founding Farmers, and I ordered carrot cake pancakes, despite the fact that I adamantly believe that pancakes (aka CAKE) for breakfast is a terrible idea for your body.  In fact, I've been known to loudly complain about this very fact in front of my entire family dad while he indulges in coffee cake or other sweets in the morning. But, love of carrot cake trumps all!

I've been meaning to try making carrot-cake-in-cookie-form for months, and finally decided on a random recipe I found online that was somewhat sketchy and had no reviews. As a result, I had to perform some major resuscitation to get this to work, which is why the recipe looks somewhat ridiculous- I know there must be a better way to achieve the same result. Bear with me on the measurements... I cut the recipe in half (sort of), and altered the ingredient list.

Ingredients:

Not pictured: lots of stuff, including a glass of red wine. 

4 tbsp. butter, softened
2 tbsp. unrefined virgin coconut oil
1/2 of an egg (aka 1 yolk plus a little white)
3/4 cup plus 1/8 cup TJ's white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup TJ's Golden Berry Blend (golden raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries)
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup finely grated carrot
1 cup oats
2 tbsp. chia seeds
3 tbsp. water

I beat the butter and coconut oil together until most of the chunks were gone (sick), then beat in half the flour and the rest of the ingredients up through the cinnamon. I stirred in everything else and found the dough to be crumbly and disastrous. ENTER MIRACLE SEED. Chia seeds are my new love, and just in the nick of time since I am totally over flax seed. And, they have the coolest gelatinous property! After stirring in the seeds + water I was able to form cookies with the dough. I baked these at 375 for about 10 minutes:

I vowed to only eat one, but ended up eating three plus some dough. Shoot. The rest are being sent in a birthday care package to Nate, but they're mostly for his dad, who (unlike his son) always enjoys a healthy cookie!

Maple Baked Beans

There's a spot in my heart reserved for summer dinners at my grandparents' house, when we sat at their round picnic table on the patio. Grandpa would station himself at the grill, smoking a cigarette and talking quietly with my dad while we tumbled in the endless lawn of cool, evening grass. We'd wear ourselves out playing tag, racing between the flower beds and pine trees until we collapsed on the hammock and lay there until dinner was ready. Back then, the only "picnic" foods I would eat were hotdogs, potato chips, and Grandma's fruit salad (if it was loaded with marshmallows); praise the Lord that my taste buds have changed! One dish I always made sure to decline was baked beans, and I've continued passing on them until just recently. In the spirit of trying to break old habits I decided to make them this weekend and am IN LOVE with this recipe's tangy sweetness.

Ingredients: 

3 cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 large vidalia onion, chopped

1 cup (about half a can) diced tomatoes

4 tbsp. unsulphured molasses

3 tbsp. maple syrup (I used maple/agave blend)

2 tbsp. mustard

2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. salt

a handful of dried cranberries 

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and stir well. Cook for 4-5 hours on high heat, or 7-8 hours on low. These would be wonderful topped with a sliced, grilled hot dog and cornbread on the side, but I ate mine with brown rice (of course).

DANSKOS

I hate these shoes. Except I love them. WHY ARE THEY SO COMFORTABLE? And really, I'm almost starting to think there's something cute about them when they're worn with cuffed jeans. 

The Last Supper

In a mad rush to clean out my fridge last night before going home (!) for ten days I threw together an interesting meal...

Course 1: carrots, tomatoes, kalamata olives, and cilantro jalepeno hummus

Course 2: leftover roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts with garlic and nutritional yeast

Course 3: TJ's fro-yo with plain greek yogurt, pumpkin butter, almond butter, and granola 

(Please note that I ate it straight out of the yogurt container)

Course 4 isn't pictured, but it consisted of frozen cookie dough, which was classy. 

Gumbo so good you'll cry.

I know, this picture is kinda lame. But really, this gumbo is sooo good! Make-it-for-dinner-guests good. I was a little nervous about tackling this recipe since my previous attempt to make New Orleans style shrimp ended in tears (I'm not even joking about that, it's one of Nate's favorite stories to tell). After successfully making this gumbo, though, I realized my aforementioned catastrophe was due to the roux, which I did not take seriously the first time. For this go-round I stood at the stove for 40 minutes stirring the damn flour/oil mixture until it was the loveliest chocolate brown color... my hand hurt from the constant whisking, and I contemplated abandoning it. I was deathly afraid that this would result in kitchen failure, but surprisingly the amount of work that went into the soup was well worth it. Here's the recipe, which I revised slightly:

Ingredients

3/4 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails removed
32 oz. chicken stock
1/2 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices (I used chicken andouille sausage from TJ's)
canola oil
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 of an onion, chopped
1/2 of a green pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 cup frozen okra 
2 minced garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. creole seasoning (I made my own by combining 1/4 tsp. each of paprika and salt, then a pinch each of onion powder, basil, oregano, thyme, and black pepper)
1/4 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (more or less to taste) 
1/2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Method

Cook sausage in a fry pan with a little bit of oil until browned. Set aside, and pour drippings into a measuring cup. Add extra oil to measure 1/2 cup, and then pour into a large pot over medium-low heat and stir in flour. Continue stirring mixture for 35 to 40 minutes; you'll be tempted to add more oil in the beginning stages to thin it out, but try not to! Just keep stirring, and eventually it will turn into a sauce. Once it's the color of melted chocolate, stir in onion, green pepper, celery, and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes or so, and then add the broth, bay leaf, seasonings, and okra. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes (if you want you can skim off the fat while the gumbo cooks, which I did, somewhat half-heartedly). Finish by adding the shrimp and sausage--when the shrimp is pink, it's ready to serve over rice or cornbread. This gumbo is riiichhh, so a little goes a long way!

Oat bran, My love

Newest oat bran combo: 

bananas, dried cranberries, 

cinnamon raisin peanut butter, pumpkin pie spice mix, 

maple/agave syrup blend

Ah. Make it.

Holler, Moosewood

After a hard day of work on Friday filled with departmental events and a GRE practice test during my lunch break, I was in the mood for some serious comfort food by the time I got home. Despite the fact that I still needed to study and learn at least half of the 300 vocabulary words I'd made flash cards for, I allowed myself the luxury of making one of my favorite soups. This is a Moosewood recipe that combines two of my favorite ingredients: olives and beans. The mixture sounds bizarre, it's true, but this recipe is one of those rare soups that is both light and filling, with the perfect ratio of chunkiness to broth. After the initial chopping frenzy it's ready within 40 minutes, leaving the vegetables somewhat crunchy (waayyyy better than soft, in my opinion). Disclaimer: I'm pretty liberal when it comes to measurements. I probably used more of each vegetable than what the recipe calls for.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrot
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 tsp. basil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
3 cups water
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 small can tomato paste
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 cups cooked white beans (I used 1 cup dry Great Northern beans that I pre-soaked all day and then cooked for about 30 minutes)
1 cup chopped black olives
1/3 cup chopped kalamata olives

Saute vegetables and spices in olive oil (about 2 tbsp.) for 5 - 10 minutes. Add remainder of ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. This would be great with crusty bread, but I ate it solo!