Healthy Cookies

Well, healthier anyway. 

I felt the need to bake this weekend. I wanted to bake for me, not for anyone else. I haven't made anything since before the holidays. Christmas cookies wore me out a little bit. I did, however, win my work's bake-off. Now I can say "My award-winning peanut butter cookies". And I do.

Anyway. I had bought dark chocolate chips and wanted to do something with them because yum. I've had this recipe for a while. It was good to start with, but I modified it a bit. (Originally they were called Bev's Chocolate Chip Cookies from cooks.com or somewhere.)

I got 2 dozen out of this recipe, but they were pretty big.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup rolled oats (I have 5 min oats that were ground in a food processor, but one minute oats work, too).
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup salted butter, softened (I don't use extra salt if the butter's salted)
• 1/4 cup plain applesauce (Bev used canola oil, but I like applesauce or fruit butters)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1ish cup dark chocolate chips-I always throw a little extra in there

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add applesauce, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy. Add the dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Drop the dough by heaping teaspoonfuls, at least 1 inch apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

I want to try some variations on this. Maybe add in some kind of spice, they seemed a touch flat. I'd also like to sub pumpkin or pumpkin butter for the applesauce and throw in some pumpkin seeds as well. I'd even take out the applesauce and add some peanut butter. The dark chocolate is delicious though, so I'd leave them in.

Sorry for the lack of photos. I'll try to remember to take some next time.

Just Another Manic Monday

Okay, not really. But one of the radio stations here is sponsoring a Bangles concert, so the song got in my head.

I had the fattest week I've had in a reeeally long time last week. i figured since I didn't have to fit into my bridesmaid dress any more, I deserved it a little. I still worked out, but only about half as much as usual (plus I didn't work out today-I'm on doggy duty and I didn't want to put Otis back in his crate after he had been there all day (yes I'm using the dog as an excuse)). And oh, my friends, did I eat. Enchiladas, fried dough, doughnuts, mac and cheese with bacon baked right in, ice cream for dinner, soup in bread bowls.  So tasty.

It's going to be a little difficult to get back in a healthier state of mind and body.  Especially since eating all that cheese and sugar just makes me feel like taking a nap.  I'll ease myself in this week.  Maybe.  My birthday is Friday, so I've got at least one happy hour and one dinner on the schedule.

And a massage.  I can't wait.  My back has been so sore lately.  Too much sitting, slouching, stressing, etc.  I have a knot the size of a walnut in my shoulder, so I am very excited.  Yay for Living Social and $40 massages!

On a completely unrelated note-I did the volunteer orientation for Habitat for Humanity. I'm so excited to go to a build.  There's one maybe 10 minutes from my house.  I've wanted to do it since high school, and it just kind of hit me one day....why haven't I?  So I am.  I like being able to physically help someone out.  Plus I learned a lot about the organization that I didn't know. Job #1 is for a not-for-profit, but I don't get to see a direct correlation between what I do there and how it effects who we're serving.  This way I will be.  Plus, who doesn't like getting their hands dirty every once in a while?

I Kind of Suck, but the Shore Does Not

You guys…I kind of sucked at being healthy last week.  I didn’t work out at all.  Unless you count walking on the boardwalk exercise.  Which I would, except that I got Kohr Brothers frozen custard and a small is NOT a small.  But chocolate and peanut butter swirl is SO worth it.

Anyways-I skipped the gym Monday because my legs still hurt from Saturday and Sunday.  Except I forgot that Wednesday was my friend’s bf’s bday-so I skipped that day too.  And then I was at the shore Friday-Sunday (re: Kohr Brothers), so I missed my Saturday gym time and my Sunday yoga.  I took my running shoes with the best of intentions, but being lazy got the better of me.  Also, I ate way more cream cheese brownies, cheese curls, and ring bologna than I’d like to admit.  I’m really afraid to get on the scale, so we’ll just wait on that until my normal weigh-in day this weekend.

So we’re getting serious now.  I have three and a half weeks to look amazeballs in my bridesmaid’s dress and I am determined, damn it!  So here’s the plan:

1.       Eat less crap. That means anything from the bakery at job #2 except fruit cups. No baking for the next few weeks.  And choosing meals out wisely.

2.       Not eating the free food that’s left on the table in the lunch room.

3.       Getting back on track with C25k, ie running 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday)

4.       Going to yoga twice a week.  Beginner’s class on Saturdays before  I hit the gym for running and so weights. And Vinyasa on Sunday to get the week started right. Side note-Vinyasa is effing hard.  Downward dog is our “rest position”.  My shoulders/arms best look amazing at the end of this.

I’m already on track.  Sort of.  There are a couple of brownies left, but I did not buy fudge on the boardwalk this weekend.  I could have…the other girls did, but I didn’t. This is a first and also a little bit of a miracle.

The weekend was fun though.  It was a bridal beach weekend.  We were down a bridesmaid because she had to work, but it was still fun.  I got to read, lie on the beach, eat, and help the youngest girl with her summer history homework.  We hardly turned on the TV, except Sunday before we left because the weather was crappy.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get down there once more before the summer is over, but it might not happen because there’s so much going on. 

The only part that was less than awesome was the drive home.  It took three and a half hours.  Ridiculous for what’s supposed to be a two hour drive.  FYI-New Jersey floods in heavy rain.  Not a fan.  You know it’s bad when I’m happy to see the Blue Route.  (For those of you not from this area-I hate the Blue Route.  It’s always, always backed up at some point no matter what time of day I take it.  And it’s usually for no reason.)

I hope you all had a good weekend!

BUTTER TARTS!!!

As some of you know, Cher at The Only Girl held a give away for the Canadian wonder that is the butter tart.   In case you don't know what they are, go here.

I made this for Cher instead of doing actual work at work.

So anycalories, after A LOT of paperwork (on Cher's end (thanks again!!))--did you know that butter tarts need a passport?--I got them today!   And I couldn't wait to try one.  They're delicious!  They taste kind of like shoofly pie, but without the crumbly stuff on top.  BUT, these had raisins in them.  And I loves me some raisins.

I'm shocked and appalled that we do not have butter tarts in the US.  I plan on finding a good recipe and making some of my own.  And also some shoofly pie.  Hi, I'm going to be 300 pounds.

In completely unrelated news....I got an e-mail on Match last week from a guy whose user name is "LittleG".  He's 4'8".  I don't know what to do with that.

Gimme a "C", Gimme a "U", Gimme a "P"*....

*I had to add the "P" part because some people (LiLu, Salt) need to get their minds out of the gutter...tsk tsk you two!

Today is one of my coworker/friend's birthday. And we all know what that means...cupcakes! This time, knowing her love for Reese anything, I wanted to try something a little different. So I went with peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting.

I had to add some sprinkles to make them more festive.  Plus, she loves sprinkles!

I used a recipe from Cooks.com for the cupcake.  The recipe originally called for shortening, but I like my butter, so I switched them out.

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. shortening  (butter!)
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 lg. eggs
1 c. milk
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt (I don't add salt when I use salted butter..also too salty with the PB)
 
And the frosting is from my trusty Hershey's cookbook.  Which I always turn to when I need something chocolate-related.
 
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2-2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa (I used regular bc I didn't have the special dark laying around...I should though, I heart dark chocolate)
1/3 cup milk (add more 1 tsp at a time if needed)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 
They turned out pretty well, but I think next time I might take the butter butter out and make it extra peanut butter, and throw in some mini chocolate chips for good measure.  Because why not?  I'm also formulating a plan to make "creamsicle cupcakes".  Orange cake with either a vanilla glaze or cream cheese icing.  Maybe with some orange zest on top to make it pretty.

In other food related news...I MISSED MY OPPORTUNITY FOR BUTTER TARTS!! One of my aunts was in Canada for a few days with a friend and I didn't know about it UNTIL NOW.  I'm very distraught.  I really need to get a passport so I can go get me some authentic butter tarts.  Also, I've never been to Canada, and I'm sure there's a ton to see up there that doesn't involve mounties.  Any suggestions, Cher?

Cupcakes!

One of my biffle's birthday is tomorrow.  I have off work and am going to Hershey Park!  Soooo exciting.

I like to use any excuse to bake and try a new recipe, so I made her funfetti cupcakes.  I hate using boxed mixes, so I googled and ended up at Lovin' From the Oven.  The recipe I used is here.  I didn't make any changes or anything.  I got 16 cupcakes (which quickly turned to 15 as soon as they were cool enough for icing).

Here's the finished product:

I've never done piping before, so I'll have to work on making the icing look pretty...

After I took a big bite.

 The icing is soooo good.  I'm definitely going to keep it in reserve for other deliciousness.  Or if I just want to snack on some icing.

Results!

So I pretty much ate like a 12 year old boy who was left at home by himself over the weekend.  Not limited to, but included in the menu were peanut butter M&M's, Cheetos (puffs), Lucky Charms, brownies, and cookies.

I DID get to experiment, and I even took pictures!  (Go me!)  Okay, so first up we've got gorp cookies.  I used a cookie recipe in one of my cookbooks for the base, but altered a bit.  It called for fancy, high-quality chocolate chunks and pecans or walnuts or something (no thank you).  So I switched those out for regular M&M's, peanuts and raisins.  I did take the meat mallet to the M&M's and peanuts to break them up a bit.  Here's the final product:

These turned out soft-baked also, so bonus.  It's a great combo of sweet, salty, and the texture is fantastic!

Now on to the brownies.  Which are probably one of the best idea's I've ever had.  I used the standard brownie recipe that I always use.  Except this time I made a graham cracker crust first (used the meat mallet again--great stress-relief) and mixed semi-sweet chocolate chips and mini marshmallows into the batter.  

These were super gooey and I loved them.  I got A+'s from my taste testers.  I will definitely be making both of these recipes again.

Next up on my baking to-do list are butter tarts.  Cher was very upset that I had never heard of them.  I'm pretty much sold on anything with "butter" in the name.

Experiments in the Kitchen

I really love to bake.  It's cathartic for me.  Plus there's the added bonus of being able to eat deliciousness after I've de-stressed.  So I am very excited for this weekend.  Aunt and Uncle (who I live with) are launching the boat, so I'll have some free-reign in the kitchen.

I'm planning on experimenting with two recipes.  The first one I've been thinking about making for a while, so I've built it's yumminess up in my head and really hoping it doesn't suck.  And those are s'more brownies.  I'm going to manipulate my famous(ish) brownie recipe to accommodate some mini marshmallows.  Very exciting.

The second one I thought of the other day.  I LOVE to snack on raisins mixed with peanuts (so good, and such a cheap, healthy snack).  This is the poor man's version of GORP (raisins, peanuts, and m&m's).  I didn't have the m&m's--chocolate chips work too, except they melt.  Anyyummy, I'm going to make a GORP cookie (I hope).  It'll be mostly-healthy because the base will be oatmeal and wheat flour.  Hopefully it'll turn out well, I'll be so sad if it doesn't!

I know I'll be able to find some taste-testers for these.  If they turn out pretty I'll post the pics!

Food Hangover

I've got a HUGE food hangover yesterday. It's a really strange sensation when combined with the fact that my muscles are kind of achy (hopefully from the gym and not from eating too much).  Anyway, I spent the afternoon and evening on Saturday with my aunt (Chow Pie), my little cousin (Katie), and my uncle. 

Chow Pie was nesting...we made an Italian Feast--from scratch.  Chow Pie had the sauce going when I got there, she threw the meatball ingredients in the bowl and I mixed and rolled them, with the supervision of Katie, of course.  We ended up with 42.  Katie counted them.  Several times.  Chow Pie made the bread sticks and mixed the dough for the pasta.  That's right, we cranked out that pasta ourselves.

All in all I spent about 7 hours over there, which is the norm.  We played, and watched cartoons, and I even gave the little monster a bath.  It's nice to know that I can borrow a kid whenever I'm feeling maternal.  And then I can give her back when she decides to throw a tantrum.  I have pictures also, which aren't loading for me.  Hopefully I can get them to work soon.

Hope everyone had a great weekend =)