Plain 'ol Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies

Promises, promises. I said I would post about last weekend's baking successes this week, and the next thing I know it is Friday, and I have yet to do it! Things at work have been pretty busy; I have been loafing around at home - just reading and playing Hot Shots Golf on the PS3. It's been fun, and I've really needed a break. My weekends have been so busy that I work all weekend before I go back to work, and then I also want to try a few new meals here and there. There just hasn't been the time for it! So on Wednesday, I took a much needed half day from work, didn't do anything important at all (that was the point!), and we've even been munching on Amy's California burgers (bought from the Peace Nook, also using local pickles) and fried potatoes (local), and steamed spinach (local). They have made for a couple of nights of easy meals, and I have gotten to relax! Normally I would prefer making my own "burgers" of course, but I didn't have any frozen and making burgers from scratch takes away from that much needed relaxation time. Anywho, this is one of the two successes I had last weekend; I will double-post today to get them both up.

A note: I still have lots of baking to do this weekend, so I am making simple tried and true meals. I am going to try my hand at making homemade gnocchi again tonight (as I won't be baking after work), I will be making soup tomorrow (for soup and bread night), and after that, I have planned a menu of things I have already posted about, chosen for their tastiness, but also the ease in preparation. We will be having Leng's Veggie Fried Rice, Bean Burritos (using 'Traditional' Refried Beans), Super Easy Tasty Taco Salad, Fajita Burritos, and perhaps a frozen Amy's pizza somewhere if needed. You will notice that most of these meals rely on refried beans. Brett will make up a huge batch and we will have the basic "element" for most of the week's meals already prepared. This will mean that I will (hopefully) have some relaxation time this weekend and during the week, but that also means that most of the posts you will see in the coming week or two will be baked good related. Please bear with me, the regular food will return after the holidays.

Back to the cookies! Geez I can get off on a tangent, can't I? I needed to come up with something that I could make for a family member that is allergic to chocolate and caffeine. I had Brett pry a little bit and we found out he likes peanut butter, oatmeal cookies, and cheese cake. Well the first two I can work with, the cheese cake - well that is a problem. I don't eat dairy and Brett despises cheese cake, so there would be nobody to test it. And somehow I imagine he wouldn't want a Tofutti cheese cake, and I am not about to taste Tofutti cream cheese - the thought just kind of grosses me out. So I chose to try out peanut butter cookies, and something I hoped would be at least reminiscent of cream cheese (see the next post).

These cookies aren't really anything special, other than being whole grain, super tasty, and loaded with Missouri-produced peanut butter (and eggs!). Mine didn't come out as pretty as I would have liked it to have. I guess I'm just not all that good at shaping things.

I've yammered enough; let's get to the picture and recipe!















The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Plain 'ol Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe modified from here.

1/2 cup raw organic sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cub Earth Balance, at room temperature
1/2 cup smooth organic peanut butter +
1 egg +
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Using an electric mixer, blend Earth Balance for a minute or two. Add the sugars and blend for another minute or two.

Add the peanut butter and egg and combine well.

Slowly stir in the dry ingredients using a large spoon.

Form into a ball, cover, and refrigerate for about three hours.

Preheat oven to 300.

Form dough into large balls (about 2 inches). Place 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Flatten a little.

Using a fork, press in the "usual" crisscross pattern if desired.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

These were really yummy. And we didn't need anyone to help us polish these suckers off - we did just fine by ourselves. :-)

I'll be back sometime later today to post about my other baking success.

Happy Friday everyone!

'Til next time.

Whole Grain Spelt Pizza with Peanut Sauce, Black Beans, and Local Veggies

I don't want to take anything away from this pizza since I haven't even told you about it yet, and it was actually really good - but I have a little bit of trouble with pizza toppings now that I no longer eat cheese. I haven't found any non-dairy "cheese" that I have really been sent by (and no, I've never had Teese, I've never seen it at the stores and don't really want to get in the habit of buying something online). I especially don't like non-dairy "cheeses" in the quantities used on most pizzas, so I always try to do some "weird" pizza, something that you wouldn't want to put cheese on any way. But I don't have too many ideas in that department either. Maybe I'm being dense here, or making something like pizza a lot more difficult than it should be, I just wish I could think of some more "normal" ways of having pizza that is dairy-free by not reliant on dairy-free "cheese". Maybe I should wish upon a star....

Now that I have probably made you think this pizza was bad - let's talk about it! ;-) I actually thought this was really good. I love peanut sauce, and made a spicy-sweet version for a whole grain spelt pizza. I had lots of good veggies around to choose from for toppings - including oyster mushrooms. This was the first time I had ever had oyster mushrooms and man do I hope they have some at The Root Cellar again when I go later this week, they were amazing! They have a great texture when cooked and have a meaty quality, in the way that portobellos do, but they don't taste the same at all - if that makes any sense. Needless to say, they are wonderful and you should try them if you get a chance.

The only thing I am going to change next time is the size of the pizza. This pizza is much too large for two people and it doesn't keep for more than a day - at least well that is. I think I am going to halve the recipe and make a half sized crust. Whole grain spelt is so filling even Brett can't eat more than a couple of pieces and he can usually easily eat an entire one on his own (and somehow he's still really skinny, either he has a tapeworm or it is all that walking).















The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Whole Grain Spelt Pizza with Peanut Sauce, Black Beans, and Local Veggies

Creamy Peanut Sauce:
1/4 cup natural peanut butter +
1/2 cup plain hemp milk ++
2 tsbp shoyu
2 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp agave
2-3 tsp sriracha hot sauce
1 tbsp flour (to thicken)

Combine all ingredients in a sauce and mix well. If not thick enough, add 1 tbsp flour and stir while sauce thickens.

The Rest of the Stuff:
1 cup fresh butternut squash, sliced thin
ground ginger
salt
safflower (or other) oil in spray bottle

1/2 cup black beans, cooked ***
1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced +
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced ++
6 oyster mushrooms, chopped

1 recipe of whole grain spelt pizza dough

Preheat oven to 400.

Spray a small baking dish with oil. Toss butternut with just a few dashes of ginger and a pinch of salt.

Roast, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes, or until mostly soft.

Reduce oven heat to 375.

Top crust with peanut sauce and toppings.

Bake on a pizza stone for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

To make this even better - put a little more sriracha on top while before you eat it. Spicy!

'Til next time.

"Everything" Granola Bars (Vegetarian)

My first attempt at making granola bars was a few weeks ago. It went so-so - hence why I never blogged about it. The granola turned out and tasted fantastic, but it didn't really work as "bars". I pressed them, let them set, and then removed them from the pan to cut them, at which point, it all fell apart. I was a little disappointed, but it was tasty homemade granola, so I enjoyed it as is, and decided I would try again...sometime...

Time got away from me a little bit, I had other endeavors I wanted to try and honestly, I kind of forgot about them, and got into the habit of buying Herbal Oats granola bars from the farmer's market or The Root Cellar to have for work. Then last week, I picked up a granola bar from the local Uprise Bakery (where we usually get our beloved ciabatta from), and it was the best granola bar I had ever had - seriously - so good. So I saved the label with the ingredients listed on it so I could try again, this time using Uprise's combination of seeds, nuts, and other goodies.

I am happy to say that they not only set and held together, they taste almost just like the granola bars from Uprise. These are a lot cheaper than the $2.50 a pop Uprise granola bars, and I was able to use some local ingredients to make them. And we all know that local ingredients make everything better, right? :-)

I have been enjoying these for my breakfasts at work and Brett has been enjoying them at home - though it seems he is also eating them as snacks too. And Brett isn't a huge nut/seed fan, so his eating them for snacks says a lot about how good they are. I think I might start making my own granola bars for work breakfasts - at least until some California clementines become available. Between the months of November and February, Brett and I almost turn into clementines. I kid you not when I say I was bringing 6-10 to work with me a day and eating them all last year at this time. Now I know clementines are small, but that is a lot of fruit! No wonder I didn't get sick very often last winter!

There I go, off on a tangent again. You would figure I talk people's ears off - Brett yes - but pretty much everyone else gets a fairly mute Jennifer. I guess when I am typing my long-winded nature really shows through. If I wasn't so shy and didn't have such "out there" opinions, I would likely talk it up more, but alas, that is not the case, so you all get to deal with my long-winded typing.

















The local booty legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

"Everything" Granola Bars

1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup chopped pecans *
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 ground flax seeds
1/2 cup regular rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup honey *
1 cup smooth natural peanut butter +
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400.

Layer all the nuts and oats except the sesame seeds on a baking sheet.

Toast for 5 minutes. Shake pan and add sesame seeds.

Toast another 3-5 minutes, keep an eye on them so they don't burn.

Meanwhile, combine honey, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt over low heat in a small sauce pan.

In a large bowl, combine the dry and wet mixtures.

Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper.

Spread mixture in pan and press down firmly to get the granola to stick together.

Cool completely and cut into squares (ours made about 12).

Store in an air tight container for 3-5 days.

These rocked and have made excellent breakfasts. Yum!

'Til next time.

Jessy's Broccoli with Spicy Peanut Sauce

I have been wanting to make Jessy's (from Happy Vegan Face) Broccoli with Spicy Peanut Sauce since I saw her post about it awhile back. I've just been waiting for the local broccoli to come back around. I found some when I went to the Root Cellar, and I knew her recipe was exactly what I wanted to do with it. Since we had such an abundance of local veggies around, we decided to load the stir-fry up with other veggies rather than use rice. The only thing we did differently than Jessy for the sauce was to use sesame chile oil instead of regular sesame oil. This peanut sauce is one of the best I've ever had!















This picture does not do the meal justice. I should have stirred the sauce in before photographing it, but it smelled so good and I was hungry.

In the stir-fry we used a head of local broccoli, 1 cup of local shiitake mushrooms, 1/2 a local golden zucchini, about a 1/2 cup of local yellow and purple wax beans, about a cup of local okra sliced into 1/2 inch coins, local onions, and petite bell peppers from our container garden. The peanut butter used in the sauce was made at an intentional community about an hour and a half south of us. Wahoo for local food and Jessy's killer sauce.

I also want to mention that Brett and I are going to start rating our recipes somehow and will create a favorite recipes index as well. We don't post recipes on this blog unless we liked them, but there are so many that we can't remember them all. Now, there are a lot of recipes for a reason. It is because we like to try to eat as locally as possible, which often means working with a lot of the same ingredients. If you don't change it up, eating this way can get stale fast. Not to mention, we already had a lot of recipes before I started the blog.

Oh, and if any of you try the recipes from this blog, let us know what you thought, you guys can contribute to the rating system too.

I will try to get on tomorrow to post the weekly local booty update. Brett's mom and grandma are coming to visit this afternoon and tomorrow, Sundays we watch football, and Monday is Brett and I's 6 year anniversary. So expect the garden update to be a little late, but we will get it done.

'Til next time!

Peanut-Veggie Soba Noodles

As I'm sure you've all gathered, Mexican is by far our favorite cuisine. Behind that would be various forms of Asian food, particular Thai and Japanese. I'm not very sure as to the "authenticity" of our Asian food - but it's tasty and we like it, so that is really all that matters. As of late, Leng's Fried Rice has made its way nicely into our regular recipe routine - it's so tasty (and versatile, we just use what veggies we have on hand)!

This is, obviously, not Leng's Fried Rice, but it was a quick and easy creation that was filling and takes advantage of all the local yummies we have at our disposal right now. And, because I'm a bit of a spice freak, I douse my serving in sriracha before I eat it, Brett's not a huge fan of the sriracha, it's a bit spicy for his taste, so the hot chile sauce I use in this recipe is a milder variety that I supplement with sriracha to please my "fire tooth". Some have a sweet tooth, I have a spice tooth. And the great thing about Asian food is the sweet and spicy combinations often found, so it's the best of both worlds, and both Brett and I can be satisfied!

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden

Without further fanfare, here she be!















Peanut-Veggie Soba Noodles

Sauce:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup water
juice of one lime
2 tbsp brown rice vinegar
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp shoyu
2-4 chiles Japones, roughly chopped (or crushed red pepper to taste)
2-3 tbsp hot chile sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1" fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced *
a pinch of salt

Veggies and Such:
1/2 package of soba noodles

shredded cabbage **
chopped rainbow chard *
carrots, sliced into thin matchsticks
yellow squash, sliced into thin matchsticks ***
zucchini, sliced into thin matchsticks ***
1/2 an onion, sliced thin *
1/2 a red bell pepper, sliced thin *

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain once cooked.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Add the chiles, ginger, and garlic and cook for about 5-8 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and combine well.

Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon or two or sesame oil over medium or medium-low heat. Add all the veggies and stir-fry until they begin to char.

Toss pasta with veggies and sauce and enjoy warm.

This was really good, we both really like soba noodles, and when we discovered that buckwheat attracts predatory insects, we were pretty excited as soba noodles are made from buckwheat.

'Til next time.

Vegan Pad Thai

Well, I believe I mentioned sometime last week that you should expect a lot of stir-fry posts this week, and as promised I am delivering. I have had really good luck cooking Asian recently, in the past I was always been a bit wary of cooking Asian at home as I felt like I wasn’t familiar enough with the flavors to create a tasty recipe, or at the very least to be able to figure out what’s missing if the recipe didn’t seem quite right. Now that I am more comfortable with Asian flavors, I just go out and get a recipe to use as a template so I can make it to Brett’s and my liking. This generally means making it sweeter since Brett is a sweet freak. If I always made things as sweet as he liked, I’m not sure he or I would have teeth anymore and I’m only 23!

I still have a few recipes I am planning on trying out this week and many other Asian recipes I plan on trying out at some point, but think next week I will go in a slightly different direction. I have been missing beans, as my protein source has been a lot of tofu, seitan, and nuts lately, so expect see some beanage (and probably more tofu as well).

So last night the menu was Vegan Pad Thai noodles. This was a really good recipe, it ended up being a little sweet, a little sour, a little savory, and a little spicy. Think we covered most of the types of flavors in this recipe? I thought this was very easy to make, which makes it perfect for a weeknight dinner (and you could take the leftovers to work if there are any). I made mine without, but some people put sliced tofu in their Pad Thai to give it more protein. The sauce I used had peanut butter in it and I put crushed peanuts on top so I figured we’d be fine on protein. I also made this a bit skimp on the veggies as I thought it would be fine on its own, but I bet it was also be good loaded with sautéed veggies as well. I might have to try it like that next time.

I can’t really attest to the authenticity of this, but overall I thought it was really good. And again, this is great when you don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

Vegan Pad Thai

2-3 cloves garlic, minced
diced onion
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1/4-1/2 cup shoyu (or other soy sauce)
juice of one lime
3-5 tbsp creamy peanut butter
couple dashes of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper (or both!)
2-4 tbsp brown sugar (more or less depending on desired sweetness)
1 tbsp peanut oil
bean sprouts
crushed peanuts

Cook noodles according to packages directions.

Stir together soy sauce, lime, peanut butter, pepper flakes, and sugar.

In a skillet, heat peanut oil and sauté onions for a few minutes, then add garlic and ginger and sauté a few minutes more.

Serve sauce over hot, cooked rice noodles and lots of washed bean sprouts. Top with crushed peanuts.

That’s about all for now. I’m off to spend a nice, relaxing evening with Brett, the kitties, and some (hopefully) good food!

Weekends = Lots of Cooking, Pictures, and A Long Post

Well, it's the weekend, which means that I have more time to cook.

Let's start off with Friday. I ended up making some nachos to use up the ingredients I still had on hand. This was a nice, tasty, quick meal, which was much appreciated after a long week at work and lugging home a mighty heavy load from the grocery store. I simply sautéed diced leftover marinated seitan (see the fajita post) in olive oil with some chopped up onion. I heated up the leftover black bean puree (see the flatbread post). I seasoned up some leftover brown rice I had. Then I got out some blue corn chips, spread 'em out on a plate, and topped them with the above stated ingredients. I popped it in the oven (set at 300 degrees) for a few minutes for everything to get nice and warm. Then I topped the nachos with some tofu sour cream, chopped up green onions, sliced black olives, and some salsa (not shown in the picture). It was good.

Yesterday, for breakfast I made some cinnamon raisin oatmeal. It was hearty, sweet and delicious. Oatmeal is very filling, which is something I forgot, since it has been awhile since I've had it. Neither one of us could eat more than about half the amount pictured. I over estimated our oatmeal appetites a bit, but hey, you live and learn, right?

Sweet Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal

2/3 cup regular rolled oats (not instant)

1 1/3 cups plain or vanilla soymilk (or rice, oat, etc)

raisins (as much as you like)

dash nutmeg

pinch salt

cinnamon (to taste)

brown sugar (to taste, but I used lots)

sliced almonds (optional)

Bring oats and soy milk to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Stir in the rest of the ingredients except the almonds. Let boil for five minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, let stand five more minutes. Top with almonds before serving.

I spent the rest of the morning doing a bit of baking, but before I get to that, I just wanted to give a big thanks to Happy Herbivore for so kindly fielding my questions about vegan and healthful baking, it was a big help!

First, I made a vegan apple coffee cake, per Brett's request. Well, he didn't really request it, he won't do that, but he said he thought apple coffee cake would be good, I thought it could be easily veganized, and that someone out there had probably already done it. With a few short minutes of web searching, I happened upon Julie Hasson's recipe for Crumble Coffee Cake. I made only slight modifications to the recipe. For the cake, I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose white flour. And I also added up a peeled, diced up apple. This is a delicious recipe, it's not too sweet, and it truly does go well with a nice, warm cup of coffee.

Notice I have small versions of that really cool plate too.

I have been getting tired of having granola bars for breakfast at work, so I decided to try my hand at muffin making. You know, I'm not sure why anyone would make muffins from a box or package, they are really easy to make from scratch! I made plain 'ol blueberry muffins, and topped a few with some sliced almonds. These turned out so good, I'm not sure they will last long enough to make more than a couple of breakfasts for work. These could also double as a dessert, snack, meal, etc. - hehe. I modified this recipe from Recipe Zaar.

Vegan Blueberry Muffins

1/4 cup Earth Balance (melted)

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup soymilk (plain or vanilla)

fresh or frozen blueberries (thawed if frozen)

sliced almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

Combine wet ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Slowly stir the wet ingredients with the dry in the bigger bowl. Fold in the blueberries.

Fill paper muffin cups (or greased muffin pan) 2/3 of the way full with batter. Top with sliced almonds if desired. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.

And for dinner, something completely different. I made a tofu-veggie stir-fry with peanut sauce and served it over rice noodles. I had heard or read somewhere that the reason home made stir-fries never tasted like what you get at the restaurants is because people don't use peanut oil at home. Well I think they were right, I used peanut oil for my stir-fry last night and it turned out much better than anything I've made in the past.

Tofu Peanut Stir-Fry over Rice Noodles

Peanut Sauce:

1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter (no salt added if possible)

1/2 cup hot water

4-6 tbsp shoyu (or other soy sauce)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 tbsp lime juice (start with one and add more if desired)

4 tbsp brown rice vinegar

4 tbsp brown sugar

a bit of regular sugar if you like it sweeter

pinch of cayenne

Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan on the stove. The peanut butter will melt and ingredients will then blend easily. Keep over low heat, stirring occasionally, adding a bit more water here and there if it starts to get too thick.

Tofu Peanut Stir-Fry:

Peanut Sauce

1/2 block firm tofu cut into small pieces

bell pepper, chopped

onion, chopped

broccoli, cooked

cauliflower, cooked

crushed peanuts

bean sprouts (optional)

green onions (optional)

peanut oil

Hot, cooked rice noodles

Cook rice noodles according to package directions.

Sautee tofu in peanut oil until browned. Add to peanut sauce and simmer while preparing the veggies.

Sautee onion and bell pepper in peanut oil until they begin to caramelize. Add broccoli and cauliflower. Cook a few more minutes.

Layer veggies and tofu with peanut sauce over the rice noodles. Top with bean sprouts, green onions, and crushed peanuts.

That's all for now.