How Martha Failed Me And More Contents Of My Cookie Jar

It happened again .

The cookie jar's contents are wanning already . Sigh.

Rather than put away the clean dishes ( or wash the newly dirty ones ) or get showered and dressed , I did what a reasonable person in such a situation would do.

I went to Martha Stewart's website, knowing she'd solve my quandry.

But Martha, MY Martha , failed me this time. There was not a recipe that fit my requirements :

- A soft oatmeal cookie

-No nuts or fruit.

-Maybe chocolate chips

-Classic

What I found was a list of recipes containing oat bran , cranberries and apricots . Walnuts too. Oh Martha, I had to stray but you left me little choice.

The Joy Of Baking has an awesome Oatmeal Cookie recipe that I only slightly had to alter . They were easy enough to make , smell amazing , and well ,just look .

See.

They are love.

And so is she .

The Contents Of My Cookie Jar

Like most of us , I m still getting back into the swing of things post holidays. While I'm getting organized ( and yes I am applying to jobs !! ) here's another recipe.

After careful consideration and hemming and hawing , when my MIL asked me what I would like for Christmas, I decided.

A cookie jar.

My glass covered cake stand I received from her for my birthday is wonderful and I love it but I wanted something specifically for cookies. And my MIL delivered . An awesome , cookie jar that seals.

Of course an empty cookie jar is just a sad thing. Almost as sad as an empty wine rack , so I made cookies and of course I went to my current favorite source for classic recipes , Martha.

Martha Stewart's Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies - My Way ( altered)

2 cups white organic flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat organic flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup becel light
1/2 cup white organic sugar
1/2 cup organic brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 large organic eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

For the original unaltered recipe that involves a lot more sugar ( yes it's possible), real butter and all white flour , click here.

Martha also advises you use a hand mixer to incorporate but I would rather use power of the arm.

Cream together becel , sugars and maple syrup. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.

Mix together dry ingredients and slowly incorporate into sugar mixture. Combine well and fold in chocolate chips. Use a large ice cream scoop or tbsp and drop by spoonful on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12- 16 minutes.

NOTE: These cookies take much longer than other cookie recipes I have used but the product is a beautiful cookie that reminds me of a homemade yet healthier Chips Ahoy

Puppy and Dinner

As usual I'm not sure where I left off so I'll go with the contents of my camera card.

Pizza happened on Thursday night.

I was lazy and when I even mention take out , the bf takes pizza delivery and runs with it.

These are the remains of 2 pizzas.

Mine had double cheese and bacon.

His had every vegetable known to man kind.

I slept horribly Thursday night. Woke up to rainy mopey weather . The only saviour was that it was Friday and my bf was off, so he took me to class

Got out of class early , came home and fell asleep.

The result of a nap, was breakfast for dinner.

The above plate is the boyfriends.

Toad in the hole x 2 ( the little circles are the cut out bread )

Bacon

Hashbrowns

My plate :

French toast w/ cinnamon and real maple syrup

Bit of hashbrowns

Bacon!


I slept amazing last night and woke up to this happy girl.

The sun was right on her,hence the odd lighting .

Last night was the first night this puppy didn't sleep in her locked kennel ( it could fit a camel so don't feel bad for her ) .

We decided to see how she would be if we just left her sleeping on her blanket in the living room last night .

She was fine . We woke up to her sleeping on the couch !

Perched on some pillows ( excuse the laptop cord ) and daddy was nice enough to put a blanket on her. Lily adores blankets and feeling confined ( by her own accord).

Aww i love when she makes this almost bashful face. I wish the lighting wasn't so tho.

Such a hard life.

Had to get in on the cuddles.


Went grocery shopping this afternooon and after making some spectacular unpictured sandwiches , I made these.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies !

I bought a very large bunch of bananas at the grocery store today and had a few less than yellow ones on the counter and an abundance in the fridge, so I wanted to bake something to lessen the stash.

Unforuntately this recipe only used 1 banana, fortuntely they are delicious.

You can find the recipe here.

The only modifications I made were to use I Cant Believe Its Not Butter Light in place of butter and I doubt I used as many chocolate chips as the recipe called for.

The dough is very thin and not like normal cookie recipes. Do not fret. The baking soda and baking powder take care of it . So don't be tempted to add more flour.

So good!

What have you had for dinner lately?

Suspense Filled Cookies and Vegan Yumminess

Hey :)

My lunch was sooo good today. Or brunch considering it served the purpose of both breakfast and lunch.

Oh so fresh sliced italian bread. So fresh it was warm when we bought it , at the ungodly hour of 9;30 am , with mozzerella cheese , baby spinach and a bit of fat free cream cheeese.

My apologies for the sunshine-y-ness while taking this photo. This was without flash.

Yummy it was.

Vegan it was not.

This yummy and long favorite , guacamole of Mama's girl , Jordan is vegan though !

I was going to request a recipe but then I read the caption which basiclly stated that you throw various amounts of the following until it tastes right . In the mix :

-avocado

-onions

-tomatoes

-lemon juice

-cilantro

-and of course Nature's Seasoning

Mama had other words to share about the pictured Kashi crackers but they are not conducive to working up an appetite :P

That new Bob's Muesli , I got the other day ? Well I figured I better give it a whirl and because I'm all about taking risks , I used the recipe on the back of the package for cookies.

I'll make you wait til tomorrow to see the finished product. Not because I like being annoying but because I am too lazy to upload the rest of the photos and or fearful of prying the container of cookies away from bf's claws.

-A

Peanut Butter Kissed French Onion Soup

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

Today's been a pretty low key day. I slept in and had an A-MAZING breakfast of berry pancakes and bacon, gave the bf a haircut , did a tonne of laundry and went grocery shopping.

I also made these guys.

3/4 cup PC Organic Unbleached White Flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup ( Kauline , I got this from Erma ;) )

1/2 cup natural organic peanut butter

1 organic brown extra large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

hersheys Kisses ( Sidenote : but has anyone else noticed or tried the "new" hershey kisses? They are supposedly smoother and creamier and while they're fine and such I prefer the old ones that were rough and matte and just smelled awesome)

Combine sugar, maple syrup and peanut butter. Add egg and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients. Roll into balls and flatten with fork . Cook at 350 for 8 minutes. Remove from cookie tray immediatly and press an unwrapped hershey kiss into each cookie.

Hmm. What can I make with these ingredients?

FRENCH ONION SOUP!

I am not a fan personally. BUt I love making it. It's actually one of the first things I learned how to cook. Well, aside from crumpets or noodles.
In my grade ten food class, this was our groups project . My bf loves it so I make it often.


Since you've got your bread already,your cheese already shredded and your broth going . Slice some onions. I like to just chop off a hunk of an onion and then slice them in the longest thinnest way possible for that chunk.

Then with a hot pan with melted butter product of some sort, throw your onions in . Spice as you like.

In your cute but far too small onion soup bowl, put some cheese in the bottom , then bread, then distribute the onions.

Then take your broth that is simmering away and pour it over top. Don't fill to the top because it will bubble over like crazy.
Put in a 400 oven for 12 minutes. Serve with some crusty bread. Beware this is very very hot when it comes out and shouldn't be eaten for at least 20 minutes. You should also be sure to put this on a plate because you ll burn the hell out of your table if you don't :)

Hope your remaining weekend is awesome :)

-A

Bar Filled Update

I'm still crazy insanely busy . My head is permantly in the books or staring at my computer :(
On the way back from observing at Family Court today ( trekking there in the frigid temperatures as well, I must add ) I picked up a few new , well to me at least items. As always reviews will be up in the coming days . Or when I devour them.


Chocolate Vega bar which many bloggers, have assured me , tastes nothing like chocolate and more like grass. Well, the bar is varily small compared to Clif bars and the like so I think I can handle it considering how many awesome ingredients are in .

Protein 2 Go bar is one I haven't seen before . 22 grams of protein and varily low calories which is suprising since I'm pretty sure it's going to resemble a chocolate bar. I predict I will only get a bite of this one and the bf will devour it.

Sun Cookies Meal Replacemtn Cookies in Maple Walnut Chip!

The idea that I can eat 3 cookies and it will fill me up as a meal , had me sold. The cashier told me she ate 1 1/2 of them yesterday and was full.She did also mention that they are very dry and require a beverage. The nutritional stats aren't that bad either. Mostly baking ingredients.

Of course I had to get it in two flavors.

I look forward to trying both , but the Coconut Almond one sounds soooo good to me.


Exam on Friday and I have the day off tomorrow . So it's study , study , study . Thank god I still think odd colored highlighters are cool or I 'd have no joy at all .

Question :

How do you feel about meal replacement items? Do you still want a meal or do they do the job for you ?

-A

Peanut Butter Cookies, Altered

My bf is obsessed with my peanut butter cookies. I have made a million cookie recipes but this is the one he requests EVERY week .After making a vegan almond butter cookie recipe at Christmas ( it was A-MAZING!) I thought I would try to "lighten" this recipe up without it being noticeable. I 'll post both the original recipe and the altered.

Please to be ignoring that beautiful wallpaper. THankfully its only on the wall that is mostly hidden by my fridge /stove/cupboards.




Peanut Butter Cookies Original Recipe

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or marargine
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
You can of course add peanuts or chocolate chips if you want.

Cream together sugars , butter and peanut butter. Add egg and vanilla.
Combine flour, salt, baking soda .
Slowly stir into creamed sugar mixture.
When combined , add chocolate chips and such .
Roll into small balls and place an inch or so apart. Flatten with a wet fork.
Cook at 375 for 8 minutes or until edges are golden and top looks almost cooked. Remove from pan immediately and let cool.

Altered recipe

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup becel light
1/2 cup kraft natural peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

Same method as before but cream the maple syrup along with the sugars and butters.


-A