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

Cinnamon Rolls

Sometimes I'm not a very good gift giver.

Sometimes I am guilty of being the person that buys a gift that they want . Maybe more than the recipent.

Last year I really wanted The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook, but I bought it for my MIL instead. She loves to cook and after awwing over the book prior to wrapping it for ( along with eagerly awaiting the book's release in the first place ) , I thought she'd really like it AND I could borrow it .

Thankfully The Pioneer Woman has every recipe online pretty much so after contemplating and planning to make her sought after and A-MAZING Cinnamon Rolls , I finally did it.

I admit that recipes involving yeast and waiting deter me from making them.

It's not really the yeast , as I'm not scared of pizza dough . It's more the waiting .

But I waited and it was worth it . There was a bit where I was not sure I would be dining on Cinnamon Rolls or Cinnamon Hockey Pucks , but they turned out pretty good.

Of course it wouldnt be The Pioneer Woman's recipe if it wasn't enough to feed a hundred. So I cut the recipe into a 1/4 . You can find the original version in her book or here.

Enjoy and don't be cheap with the butter.

Really.

New Years 2011

I'm predictable .

Well , in certain aspects of my life I am at least.
Come New Years you can bet , that I will be conjuring up goals and resolutions, lists in my head .

So even though I've been neglecting this little blog here , in favour of other life pursuits . Er, job hunting , working and dealing with an ever growing young dog , when thinking of executing these goals and resolutions, I found myself back here.

I don't think my goals were lofty enough originally to warrant follow through. They were too easy , not to do . This time around I'm going to be a little more serious and dream bigger ,by making goals that are related to my life . It's a lot more personal than I've been with the blog , but I think that's a good thing.

Grown Up Stuff .

- Find a job or internship in the legal field. Obviously I'd prefer a job but I'm willing to do whatever to get experience so I am able to get a job

-Get serious and actually legitimately look for a house. Not just browse like I am on a guided tour.

Blog Stuff :

- Find a pattern/schedule that works for me and stick to it .

-More Foodbuzz, reviews , giveaways . As well as tracking of my own goals.

-RECIPES.

Mind , Body and Soul .

Yup. Just what it says.

Mind :

-Commit to "quiet time " more often . Get off the laptop. Turn off the blackberry and stop checking Twitter. Especially late at night.

- Make it a priority to have time to read . I can't remember the last time I had so many unfinished books .

-Register and write my ILCO exams.

-Get Organized. Buy a paper shredder and use it . File folders, and file . Do something about all these legal textbooks.

Body:

-Take Lily on the creek paths more often . Dog park , instead of the usual neighbourhood walk.

-Try Hot Yoga.

-Make use of my Pilates and yoga stuff or ditch it for something I will make use of .

Soul :

-Find a work / "play" balance that works for me ( makes me happy and not soul suckingly miserable )

-Relating to a " mind " goal , but I think it's important for the soul also , find /make quiet time. When I can just be calm with nothing electronic going on in the background.

-Learn how to say no . I guess this also relates to the "quiet time " goal because if I was able to say no , I wouldn't be so constantly busy that I didn't have the time to have "quiet time".

And now that I've written for the first time in forever and came up with half an essay , the food.

if you're still here , that is .

Like most people I thought I'd ring in the New Year but cooking and baking an abundance.
Honestly I'm just so happy to be home , finally and not have to be rushing all over the place. I love to cook as long as its in my own kitchen .So after preparing a platter with a vegetable cheese ball, various crackers and pastry hors doveres ( frozen ) , I decided to make cookies.

Dog cookies for Lily.

I've made the recipe so many times now that I have altered it , unrecognizable from the original . So here's my Lily's new favourite cookie .

Organic Peanut Butter Carrot Flax Cookies

4 tbsp. organic natural peanut butter

1/2 cup cold pressed organic flax oil

2 large brown eggs

2 cups organic whole wheat flour

1 cup organic old fashioned oats

1 cup shredded carrot

1/2 cup water

Mix together the wet ingredients. Add the flour , oats , shredded carrot . Add more water or flour if need be.

Mix into large bowl

Roll out onto floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes. Until edges are brown .

Store in airtight container or freeze in zip lock bags. Can also keep in between paper towels in zip lock bag in fridge to put off spoiling.

The Real Thing vs. The Skinny Version

Bagels.

If there is one food in blog land that is both adored and despised simultaneously ,it's bagels.

Some are on the side of the fence that jumped with excitement and glee ( totally don't get that show btw ) when they came out with those Bagel Thins. They're the people that never eat bagels despite lusting over them because , well they're bagels.

The reason they are so good is the same reason they are so "bad".

Now, I am on the side of the fence that will jump at the chance for a trip to The Great Canadian Bagel and I had to try out Tim Horton's "new" cheese bagel . Never mind the fact that I have had many a cheese bagel and know what they taste like ( slight side note, I actually think Timmy's cheese bagel is kind of grossly cheesy. It is delicious toasted with butter though but I digress). Sure, I think a Bagel Thin is a good idea for the calorie conscious eater but :

a/ A bagel thin is not a bagel in anyway
b/ If you want a bagel , eat one! I promise you'll live . Seas may part and the heavens may open but you will live.

When I started seeing Bagel Thins popping up on everyone's plate , I wondered : Are they really like a bagel ? Are they any better for you than a bagel ?

When choosing a Bagel Thin or Sandwich Thin for that matter, you have a couple choices. Probably fewer if you are a Canadian gal like me.

Thomas' Bagel Thins

These guys are 110 calories a piece and come in Plain , 100 % Whole Wheat and Everything .

Stats for the Whole-wheat Bagel Thins:

Source: meltingmama.net

Serving Size: 1 bagel
Servings Per Container: 8
Calories: 110
Calories from Fat: 10
Total Fat: 1g
Sodium: 190 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 24g
Dietary Fibre: 5g
Sugars: 3g
Protein: 6g

Nutritional stats are lovely to look at but often make us overlook the more important things.
Like ingredients.

Now I must say when researching this post, I found it very odd that one company , Bimbo Bakeries makes both the Arnold Sandwich Thins and the Thomas Bagel thins. So I figured I 'd take a look at the ingredients and stats for both products in comparison to an actual carbalicious bagel.


Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour [Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Reduced Iron, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid], Water, Sugar, Cellulose Fiber, Cornmeal, Yeast, Salt, Monoglycerides, Wheat Gluten, Preservatives (Calcium Propionate, Sorbic Acid), Guar Gum, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Soybean Oil, Soy Flour.

For the Multigrain sandwich thins

Source : brandweek.com

Serving Size: 1 Roll
Servings Per Container: 8
Calories: 100
Calories from Fat: 10
Total Fat: 1g
Sodium: 230 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 22g
Dietary Fiber: 5g
Sugars: 2g
Protein: 4g

Whole Grain Wheat Flour ,Water ,Wheat Bran ,Sugar ,Wheat (Triticum Vulgare) Gluten Cellulose ,Yeast,Sodium Chloride ,Polydextrose ,Canola Oil ,Soybean Oil ,Preservatives,Calcium Propionate ,Sorbic Acid ,Guar Gum ,Wheat (Triticum Vulgare) Flour,Monoglycerides ,Citric Acid ,Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate ,Sucralose

At a glance one one would probably think that the Sandwich Thins would be a better choice than the Bagel thins because they are 100 calories , less sugar and less carbs. They are also lower in protein though, but not by much . Despite the lower calories , the Sandwich thins definitely have scarier sounding ingredients than the Bagel thins . I have no idea what some of these items are and while the Bagel thins ingredient list isn't perfect either, it's a bit shorter.

But how do they measure up to an actual bagel ?

A whole wheat bagel from The Great Canadian Bagel

Source: thedailygreen.com

322 calories

1 gram of fat

9.4 grams of protein

69.0 grams of carbs

4.6 grams of fibre

455 mgs of sodium

Wow!

Obviously a real bagel is going to be more calories. It's a bagel not a thinned down skinnified version . I was shocked to see that a real bagel has the same amount of fat and near the same amount of fibre as a sandwich or bagel thin .

Yes the sodium and carbs are higher , but again, its larger.

Whole grain whole wheat flour including the germ, water, sugar/glucose-fructose, whole grain rye, cornmeal, salt, vegetable oil (canola or soybean), *yeast, malted barley flour, wheat gluten, calcium propionate, monoglycerides, sorbic acid. May contain potassium sorbate. *order may change. May contain soybean, egg, sesame seeds, milk ingredients and sulphites

Some of these ingredients are in the bagel and sandwich thins but I am happy to see more whole ingredients even if they may be cornmeal or canola oil.

Verdict: Bagel thins and sandwich thins are a good convenience food for the calorie conscious who don't have the time to slice a bagel in half if need be or would like more than half.

If time is no factor , slice your bagel in half and eat half, or eat scoop some of the innards of bread out and eat both halves.

If you'd normally eat more than one bagel or sandwich thin , then ditch them and jump on the bagel love bandwagon. A real bagel can be delicious, fulfilling and so worth it.

Satisfying Like Bagels , Chocolate And Good Cheese

There are very few foods that satisfy me like a bagel does.


A cheddar and herb bagel topped with old sharp and strong cheddar warmed in the toaster oven until the cheese is all melty and goey , but the bagel is not quite toasted. This always trumps over oatmeal messes

.

Especially when the oeey gooey cheese came from the Cheese Factory near the cottage. The fresh cheddar that squeaks just like the cheese curd does is the bf's . Along with the cheese curd of course. While I adore reaaaaaaallly old cheddar, 6 year old is A-MAZING! 2 year old cheddar is much nicer for cooking and such when slicing is required. 6 year old is yummy and crumbly.

Like bagels, there are very few cookies that satisfy my chocolate cravings better than Martha Stewart's Double Chocolate Cookies.

I missed the boat on good lighting this afternoon, but trust me these are ooey gooey, filled with chocolate and the addition of Reese's Peanut Butter chips.
They remind me a lot of those big flat bakery cookies you would get at the grocery store bakery counter or perhaps even at Subway.


Is there a cookie that is just your ultimate , never fail to amazing you cookie?


What's your favorite kind of cheese?

Coffee Cake and Self Love

I had an abundance of apples from last weeks ' farmer's market and was going again today so I wanted to at least make a dent in them.

It was cold and really crisp out this morning , well all day really so an Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake sounded appealing.

Rather than use the recommended Icing Sugar + warm water mix as a drizzle, I warmed up the last of a jar of President's Choice Dulce de Leche.

Sadly , I had to use a bit of flash when taking these pictures , as the original pictures I took at 11 am in natural brilliant light, were taken with a camera that had a memory card inserted incorrectly .Grr.

The recipe came from here and I cut it in half.

I used half white and half brown sugar , low calorie margarine /butter subsitute instead of butter, and dulce de leche ( caramel ) instead of iciing sugar nonsense.


30 Days of Self Love - Trusting Your Body

Day 3

In what are do you know you need to trust your body more ? How do you plan to do so today ?


I need to trust my body when it sends me hunger signals and signals of fatigue.
I often try to quiet my body or don't believe it when it tells me I am hunger when my mind believes it has not been enough time or completed enough activities to be hungry or tired.


Day 4

the love we have from others and how it can help us more fully grasp self-love as well.

I m not really sure how to answer this one because as much as I ve hated myself at times in my life I have never doubted that I am loved. I have not loved myself but I have never doubted the love of others.