Ginger Cookies

Ginger is supposed to be good for the tummy, right? Well maybe not when you eat a few of these before you get anything healthy (ie lunch) in your stomach. Of course, that's what I did. :)

I made these because a friend's mom was feeling a little sick stomach'ed (yes it's a word) lately, & hadn't been eating very much, so I thought these cookies might settle her stomach a bit. I ended up using a combination of recipes, using the Food Blog Search as my guide. I think I mostly used this recipe as my starting point, but in the end mine weren't a whole lot like the original. I didn't have any molasses (& won't anytime soon, as apparently at Tim's job they use molasses to make bacteria grow & eat up contaminants in the ground...he can't stand the smell) so I used a combo of honey & dark brown sugar. Obviously these cookies didn't have that pretty brown color that makes ginger cookies famous, but the flavor was amazing anyway. I think the ginger flavor stood out a bit better in these cookies than in molasses-based recipes.

I also almost didn't add the water to the recipe, since I included an egg, but the batter seemed a little too thick (read: I couldn't stir it) so I put some water in there after all.

Ginger-y Ginger Cookies
adapted from Frantic Home Cook

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1 cup light brown sugar
1/8 cup honey & 1/8 cup dark brown sugar, blended
1 egg
1/3 cup water
2 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup minced crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease baking sheets. In medium bowl mix together flour, baking soda, spices & salt. Set aside. Cream together butter & light brown sugar in another bowl. Add egg, water & honey/dark brown sugar mixture. Combine wet & dry ingredients & blend. Stir in crystallized ginger.


These were really easy to make (besides the mincing of ginger by hand) which was wonderful. As I mentioned before, they definitely have a strong ginger flavor & they also have a nice light texture. I made them quite small so the recipe probably made well over 50 cookies. If your cookies are larger, I'm sure there would be quite a few less!

Just a note, the cookies did not spread at all, so you might want to press them down with the bottom of a glass or your hand before baking.

And then use the glass to pour some nice cold milk to go with these cookies. :)

Enjoy!

What in the world...

...is this a picture of? Colorful, if not creepy. Food? Sludge?














Oh, I shouldn't make references to sludge when I'm presenting you with a recipe...? :) My bad.

We've been having some major quinoa cravings around here lately. Last time we ran out I made an emergency Trader Joe's run...only to find out that it was out of stock. Luckily, I found some bins of loose quinoa much closer to home a few days later. I love walking around those health food stores, with all their bins of loose nuts, grains, CHOCOLATE, trail mix, etc. I have enjoyed more than an afternoon or two staring in all those beautiful containers...exciting life around here...

Oh, right, you wanted to know what's in that picture up there.

So in those bins I found not only plain old quinoa, but red quinoa! Imagine my excitement...! One night I was in the mood for some veggie fried rice, but decided that making it with quinoa instead of rice might be an interesting twist. Not to mention I happened to have some leftover red quinoa in the fridge, & it would look awfully pretty mixed in with all those veggies.

Usually when I make veggie fried rice, I use egg whites because I don't have regular eggs in the fridge. Hence the white liquid-y pond in the center of the upper pic. The egg whites don't have the same flavor (of course) but they do give the dish nice texture. If I happen to have eggs around, I mix egg whites with just one egg.

The first time I made veggie fried rice I used this delicious recipe: Love at First Slice
but now I kind of wing it. I usually use tofu & brown rice, then vary the veggies. For this batch I used red, yellow & green pepper slices (frozen, thawed), edamame, peas, corn, carrots & red quinoa, along with sesame oil & egg whites. I never measure, otherwise I'd have a bit more of a recipe for you today. :) But if you're new to making fried rice, the recipe above is a great start. Although I'm probably the only person in the world who didn't know how to make fried rice until recently!

This was really good. A bit mushier than fried rice, but that was a good contrast to the crunchier veggies. I guess I should mention I just subbed in cooked quinoa in place of the cooked rice, 1:1 ratio. Definitely similar to the original, but, imho, much much much prettier!

Blueberry (Banana) Pancakes

Finally took a Saturday morning to show Tim that pancakes are not always derived from Bisquick... ;)

These were really good. I have to admit that I'm not a fan of plain pancakes...and just throwing some blueberries in the batter won't cut it either. I usually like a little bit (or a lot a bit) of whole wheat in the batter, or some nuts for texture. In this recipe, the addition of banana satisfied my texture cravings. The flavor is not overwhelming, but instead is very complementary to the blueberries. I also added some cinnamon (of course) to give it an extra dimension. Oh, and vanilla. I loooove vanilla. At some point I'm going to get my hands on some vanilla beans, & then I am sure I will truly be in heaven.

I added the blueberries individually to the pancakes (plopped em on top of the batter before I flipped the pancakes) but feel free to fold them into the batter instead.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup skim milk
1 egg
1/2 small banana, mashed
1 cup unbleached AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries, rinsed

Stir together buttermilk, skim milk, egg, vanilla extract & banana. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar & cinnamon. Pour wet mixture into the dry mixture & blend until just combined.

Heat griddle or pan to medium. Spritz with cooking spray or add about 1/2 Tbsp of oil to the pan. Once oil or cooking spray is hot (water sprinkled in the oil sizzles), pour batter into the pan until the pancake reaches desired size. Add blueberries (by hand) to the pancakes, then wait 2 or 3 minutes or until bubbles form in the batter. Flip pancakes and wait another 2 minutes, or until 2nd side is golden. Remove pancakes from heat & enjoy immediately!

Makes about 10 pancakes.

Our new family member!

Just a first few photos... :) He's pretty fantastic so far, he even slept through the night last night! And so far we're 50/50 on the bathroom inside/outside. Not so bad! Haha. So calm! We'll see how long that lasts...















Food soon! I have a couple to post, I'm just a little preoccupied!

Guess who's coming to live with us...

Now I know the traditional recipes have chicken stock, liver, or what-have-you, but my vegetarian lifestyle does not often find these in the cabinets. Instead, I went with PEANUT BUTTER! (Something which I know & love very well.)

Recipe found here.

Not sure how delicious they taste. ;)

Can you guess who the newest member of our family is...?

Heidi's Spinach Artichoke Dip

I've been waiting for a chance to make this dip since I saw it earlier this year...unfortunately having people over is not something that happened often in our last little apartment! I finally got a chance to break out the recipe this past weekend & I was more than pleased. I added some spinach to the recipe, of course forgetting to wait until after I'd blended the other ingredients, so I ended up with something that looked like ectoplasm. It still tasted delicious, & since I completely forgot to take pictures, today's recipe is sans illustration, which might be a good thing. ;) Check out Heidi's website for some delicious looking photos instead!

Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 12-ounce bag of frozen artichokes (mine were Trader Joe's brand...you can use canned too)
3 cups baby spinach, chopped
3 ounces silken tofu
3 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/8 tsp freshly ground sea salt
pinch of cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. In a blender or food processor puree the artichokes, tofu, and garlic. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the spinach, parmesan cheese, yogurt, salt, and cayenne. Stir in the artichoke puree and pour mixture into a medium-sized baking dish (or multiple smaller dishes). Sprinkle the top with more Parmesan. Bake uncovered until heated through and the cheese on the top starts to brown, about 45 minutes.

Now, I have a big block of silken tofu left over, & unfortunately I have no idea what to do with it. I don't want it to go to waste, so...what can I do with silken tofu? I don't like it in smoothies, but other than that I've never really had it. Any ideas? I trust your foodie brains more than my own!



Ok. One picture. Because, really, is a post a post without any photos?

Lately I have been making these every night for a snack. It feels healthy. :)

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter "Milkshakes"

1 frozen banana
1 cup cold chocolate milk
1 Tbsp peanut butter

Throw in blender & blend!

(The guinness glass purchased by Tim's mom at a yard sale is optional!)