Vegan Chip Cookies. We ate all 5 dozen of them. August 12, 2010

Well, last night I made vegan chip cookies to prove to my non-veg sister and brother-in-law that yes, it is entirely possible to make an absolutely outstanding chocolate chip cookie with no eggs, and no dairy.  They ate five dozen of them last night.  I made another batch tonight. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

8 oz vegan butter (Earth’s Balance sticks are the bomb)

3/4 cup Turbinado sugar

3/4 cup raw sugar

4 tbsp applesauce

2 tbsp flax meal (I grind my own, but you can buy it at Publix)

1 tbsp molasses

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1.5 cups whole wheat flour

1.5 AP unbleached flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups chocolate chips (READ the ingredients!!!)  Sunspire and 365 make a great bag of vegan chips.  Publix sells them as well.  You could sub carob chips too, but, you wont get that TRUE chocolate taste.)

Cream together butter and sugars, add molasses and mix well.  Add applesauce and mix well again.  Add vanilla and flax, mixing well.  In a separate bowl combine flours, soda, and powder.  Add slowly to wet mixture, and mix well between each addition.  Preheat oven to 350, and drop dough by rounded teaspoon onto a VERY lightly greased cookie sheet.  I LOVE Spectrum’s coconut oil spray, the canola spray is good too.                    (0 calories, and no free radicals!)  Bake for 10-12 minutes, untill edges are just lightly browned.  Let cool for 5 minutes on pan (but not on top of your stove)- then transfer to a cool surface for another ten minutes or so until they are set.  Then I dare you to only eat one.

These are outstanding.  Addictive.  I’m going to gain twelve pounds just by thinking about them.  My friends had better beware, I’ll be bringing them with me so I can give them away.  Otherwise I will eat them all.  These can very easily be adapted into double chocolate cookies by adding cocoa powder, or peanut butter cookies by adding peanut butter chips, etc.  Go nuts!  Add whatever the hell you want to!  But, TRY them this way first. 

Store in an airtight container at room temp for about a week.  They’ll freeze.  Store them in the fridge for longer, but then will harden a little.  Nothing a glass of Almond Breeze 40 calorie Almond Milk wont cure. 

Probably the best thing ever. Seriously. Ever.

On Loading the Dishwasher… August 3, 2010

I’m in one of those moods.  I feel like a bi-polar mix between I can take over the world and I don’t wanna move off the couch.  So, whats a lazy totalitarian to do?  Eh, the same thing I always do.  Cook.

There is something about being in a kitchen that just makes me feel at home.  Feminists bare with me.  Yes, yes, you can go about the business of burning your bra later.  For right now, shut your mouth, and open your mind. 

Women belong in the kitchen, or at the very least at home.  There is just no way around it.  It used to be that women got the privilege of staying home with the children, cooking, maintaining the household, teaching her children and providing warmth and shelter for her family.  Girls and young women were taught how to sew, mend, garden, raise children, cook, clean, launder.  To your average feminist these tasks might seem trivial and demeaning.  Fast forward to today.  I don’t know about you, but if I don’t do at least one load of laundry a day, I will end up buried in Mt. Funkysockmore.  Housework sure does seem trivial, until you stop doing it.  In my house I run the dishwasher twice a day, if not, we’d be out of clean dishes by noon.  (Granted, I do cook for a living, but, that’s not really the point.)  Think about the break-down of society.  Most “experts” agree that when the men went away to WW2, and the women stepped up to keep the country productive.  When the men came home, they women were forced to go back home, and give up their jobs to men.  This inevitably pissed off a lot of women, who decided to rally together over trash cans and hang their bras on sticks and light them on fire.  Symbolising freedom from the male chauvinistic society.  Though, ironically a slap in the face to the very women who slaved over sewing machines in sweat shops to produce those bras. 

Ok, so maybe that’s not exactly how history was written, but, close enough for my purposes.  Women have become super-people.  We’ve over stepped our bounds.  The feminist woman created the sissy man.  The balless, spineless, gutless, man who is so sensitive - he eventually divorces his powerful wife to run away to Fiji with John, Tom, or Jack.  The rise in Women’s Rights has actually been the single most determining factor in the fall of our society. 

Yes, I do vote.  I appreciate the right to do so.  The problem here is that women are NOT equal to men.  It’s like comparing the price of gas in China to the craters on the moon.  Yeah, there is no comparison.  I’m not saying we are better or worse, but, we are most certainly on different playing fields.  Women are powerful.   I certainly think that the most powerful women  aren’t the ones with the multi-billion dollar power careers, but the ones who are happy in themselves.  A big part of the reason I can’t even stand celebrity gossip.  I couldn’t give two shits less about The Obama’s or Oprah, or the Clinton’s, or Angelina Jolie.  Give me a strong women who seems to effortlessly balance housework, cooking, education, the finances, and her husband any day. 

I am not by any means writing this to piss off the working mothers I know.  Sometimes, families do NEED to have two incomes, and there is no way around that.  And, sometimes, a woman may discover that she just prefers working to staying at home, and that’s what keeps her happy.  So be it.  But, when we ask women to balance everything they already do and a full-time job we are asking too much.  Our society expects a woman to be able to be a perfect cook, housemaid, carrer-driven professional, wife, mother, and to do it all in 6-inch heels.  And, its OUR OWN FAULT.  Ladies, our grandmothers and mothers asked for this.  There is no one to blame but ourselves, women, that is.  That it the ultimate irony of feminism.  We asked for freedom, and we got it.  (Kind of reminds me of Communist Russia, or Iran, but I digress.)  Only, the freedom we got wasn’t really freedom at all, was it.

Anyhow, that’s my little bit of reflection for the day.

-Lindsy, off to load the dishwasher, I think we have the fixings for mojitos!

If you had an easy button. July 27, 2010

I’ve had one of those days, where my Life just needed an Easy button.  Which got me wondering, if you could have an easy button, but could only have one use for it – what would YOU use it on?

The coveted Easy Button

Respond in the comments, I’m just being nosey.

Personally, I would most definitely say I would use my easy button to keep my house clean.  Yeah, how totally domestic and boring of me. 

-Lindsy, this is what happens when I am uninspired, silly posts with not much meaning or content.

I am Bat Shit Crazy, or so they say… July 26, 2010

Who’s they?

I happened to be flipping through television late one night, and saw the tail end of a newscast on a new eating disorder.  They flashed the number for a clinic and a hotline to call if you had the following symptoms:

- A desire to eat healthy organic food, free from pesticides and genetic modification by today’s methods.

-The need to know what’s in your food before you eat.

-The need to know where your food came from.

-The need to know what food does in your body once you eat it.

I seriously screamed at my husband, “Oh My GOD!”  I was stunned.  That was me!  Let me dial this number and get myself checked into te Betty Ford for my semi-newly named (1997) eating disorder.  “My name is Lindsy, I enjoy carrots and low blood pressure.”   (Please imagine me in all my sarcastic glory right now, my eyes can’t even roll far enough in the back of my head to display how absolutely retarded I feel this is.)

Orthorexia.  Ortho, which is greek for correct or right, and rexia, which means appetite.  If ONLY we ALL had a correct appetite.  We could say good-bye to just about all of the top killers.  Heart diseases, cancers, diabetes, obesity… think of the implications of everyone on the planet wanting healthy, pesticide and hormone free food!!!  The HORROR!!!  (I feel like banging my forehead on my desk, repeatedly.)

I figure the guy who came up with this load of crap is probably in bed with Little Debbie.  Nope.  Come to find out he was some alternative medicine Doctor in California.  (Well, there you go, from the state that elected Arnold as Governor, and prefers saving the lives of tiny fish over the millions of people who suffer with drought every day…)  I guess he treated someone by telling them to cut things out of their diet, it worked, and then that person went crazy and cut everything out of their diet.

So seriously.  I do not have an eating disorder.  Nor does anyone else who wants to be informed about their food, diet, or bodies.  This is a sad story of how some people fail to use common sense, Doctors included.  If all you are eating is Carrots, you are obviously not getting all of the nutrients your body needs.  HOWEVER, if all you are eating is processed shit out of vending machines and vacuumed packed bags, you aren’t getting the nutrients your body needs either.  Hello!  Orthorexia isn’t a mental disorder, it’s not even recognized as a disorder in the Diagnostic manuals. 

One drop of common sense goes a LONG way these days.  And, to quote Voltaire:  “Common sense is not so common.” 

-Lindsy, my name is Lindsy and my love of vegan cupcakes proves I have an eating disorder.  Or was it the vegan pizza?  Wait, maybe its the delicious vegan ice cream…

The IMPORTANCE of ME time. July 23, 2010

New Mantra.

 

Have you ever heard the saying, “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy”?  Ok, maybe that was REALLY southern of me.  Whatever.  Its true. 

You NEED to put YOU first.  Now, repeat after me.  I’m serious, say it out loud.  I come first.  I get the feeling I’ve said this before.  I probably have.  It bears repeating.  Again, and again, and again. 

Have you ever been on an airplane?  If you listen to the flight attendant, they tell you that in the case of an emergency, you should put your oxygen mask on first, then help your spouse, child, neighbor.  Why?  What the hell good are you going to do for those around you if you can’t breathe?  Thats why.  As women and mom’s especially, we have been trained from the time we were little girls to put ourselves last.  How’s that working out for you?  Do you feel important?  Do you feel good about yourself?  Well, here it is.  I am giving you permission to put yourself first.

Oh, I am sure there is someone out there reading this calling me a selfish bitch.  Which is totally true.  I’m selfish, and at times can be a bitch.  I’d be lying otherwise.  But, I’m happy.  Or relatively happy.

I know there are others out there who can relate.  Have you ever locked yourself in the bathroom so you could get five minutes away from that terrorist in child’s clothing that is attempting to break through the door with his tiny fists?  I don’t think you can truly appreciate how wonderful it is to have the ability to take a piss by yourself, until you have had to hold a screaming infant, or have a small child staring at you, or unraveling the toilet paper roll, or asking why, what, how every two seconds.  You hear that inner voice screaming, “Oh My God, how does she know?!?”  Yeah, listen to that voice.  That is your sanity speaking. 

I get told ALL the time that I am superwoman.  People want to know my secret.  It’s not a secret.  Take time for yourself.  You are important, and you need to realise that.  Every Thursday night I make time to go be an adult with other adults.  Thursdays have become my bright spot of sanity in an otherwise stressful world filled will baby babble, work, chores, and the monotony of life.  I come home on Thursday nights feeling like I could probably conquer the world.  All from just shooting the shit with my girlfriends.

If there is one thing you should learn this week:  If you don’t put you first, don’t expect anyone else to.  Such a simple concept, and yet it’s so hard to follow. 

-Lindsy, I am woman, hear me nag at my Husband.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal. Every morning should start this way. July 21, 2010

In my quest to become healthy, if not skinny, I have discovered that eating breakfast is a key.  Yeah, yeah, all the experts tell you that you have to eat a dead chicken fetus smeared on toast and slug down a glass of calorie laden growth hormone and antibiotic loaded milk for years.  Dis-gust-ing.  No where people don’t want to eat breakfast.  Who in the hell wants to feel so loaded down by breakfast that they can’t fit in their work pants (Or kitchen apron, in my case)?

So for the past three months, I’ve been having a bowl of Kashi Cinnamon Harvest or Island Vanilla Organic cereal with 1/2 a cup of unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk by Almond Breeze or raw fruit for breakfast.  occasionally I will have a homemade breakfast muffin loaded with fruits and grains, of whatever variety I happen to be making for clients that week.  Recently though, I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic for those big Sunday morning breakfasts I used to make before becoming a vegan.  So, I’ve been experimenting!  I’ve successfully made a delicious eggless French Toast, vegan Blueberry Pancakes, both without using bananas (which I effing hate),  Bacon flavored Tofu, Homefries, and now a hearty Chocolate and Peanut Butter Oatmeal.  This recipe is a spin-off of my favorite No-bake oatmeal cookie recipe, with sugar and calorie content way pared down but, with all of that homemade cookie flavor.

Serves 2

1/2 cup quick cook oats

1 tbsp 100% cocoa powder

2 tsps sugar, I used Florida’s Natural Pure Cane Sugar 

1 tbsp carob chips, optional – but good for that extra chocolate kick

1/2 tbsp peanut butter, I use Peanut Butter & Co brand, which is delicious!

1/4 tsp pur vanilla extract

3/4 to 1 cup of water, depending on your preferred consistency

In a microwave safe bowl, mix together all ingredients, and heat for 1 minute, stir well, and enjoy!  Lots of Fiber from the oats, Antioxidants from the cocoa, low-calorie with no milk and very little sugar, and protein from the peanut butter.

Oatmeal is really a super food, with it being a soluble fiber, which in layman’s terms means it’s a type of fiber that dissolves with water (keeps you feeling full), takes longer to digest (your body can easily absorb more nutrients, and keeps you feeling fuller longer, helps clean out the intestines) keeps your blood sugar levels stable (helps stave of cravings, crashes, and mood swings) clears out cholesterol from your blood and keeps your heart healthy and packs a B vitamin punch.  Instant oatmeal is a BIG NO-NO!  They almost all contain artificial sweeteners, extra sugar, and refined carbs.  And, how can you even compare that nasty tiny little serving (one packet=one serving) to a big hot bowl of chocolate goodness.  People think oatmeal has to be boring.  Well, here is proof that it can taste like a decadent dessert.  And yes, there have been a few nights when I’ve had a bowl of this oatmeal as a dessert. 

One small scoop for Auston, the rest for me! Muahahahahahaha!

My Never Ending To-Do List and Pickles July 21, 2010

Sadly dear readers, my To-Do list is never-ending.  It seems that blogging falls to the end of that long list.  Which I totally hate.  But, the CDO (Which is OCD the way it should be, in alphabetical order) freak in me thinks that having a floor you could eat off of is more important than blogging.  I KNOW!  What am I thinking?! 

The solution?  A Command Center, which shall hereby be referred to as the CC.  My CC is just a simple bright red magnetic board and a stack of post it notes.  I really wanted a cute little cork board, but I figured that my 2-year-old son would have a hell of a good time stabbing the cat with thumbtacks.  Post Its it is.  I have it hung up right next to my computer, so that as soon as I sit down I can see all my notes and can tackle them right then and there.  For some reason, it’s so much easier to accomplish something, one Post It note at a time, then to cross things off a to-do list that’s seven miles long.  Plus, the Post It system makes it easier to re-prioritize.  Being the uber perfectionist that I am, I feel the need to rewrite my to-do list the second I cross something off of it, so that it looks all neat again.  Yes, I am fully aware that I may be crazy, I’ve made my peace with that. 

I tell you all of that to tell you this:  Blogging will be front and center on my CC everyday.  Provided I have something interesting to blog about.  Otherwise, you’ll be subject to massive amounts of rambling with nothing much to do about anything.  Like now, where I am going to talk about the Pickles I made today.

Yes, you read that right.  I canned my own pickles.  I do not know why I waited so long to try canning.  There is something seriously scary about canning your own food.  My mom and my grandmother used to do it when I was a kid.  I can remember walking in from playing outside all day and the house would smell like strawberries, or dill.  We always had a pantry stocked with jars of pickled veggies, jams, jellies, salsa, and relishes.  We also had a HUGE garden, so canning was sort of need.  So, I thought why not give it a try?  I went to the Farmer’s Market today and got 6 Kirby cucumbers, a bulb of garlic, and some fresh dill.  Stopped by the store and picked up a HUGE stove top canning cooker, that came with a canning rack.  Also got a dozen mason jars with lids.  After scouring the internet for advice on anything and everything to do with canning, I learned that my canner pot is not supposed to be used on my glass top stove.  But, I figure since my husband repairs those things for a living, it wouldn’t hurt to try it.  He is still bitching about it, in case anyone was wondering.  Apparently I could have shattered the glass.  He said its a rarity, but it COULD happen.

Anyhow, all I did was scrub the Kirby’s, a cut them into spears long enough to fit into the mason jars.  Brought the canning pot to a simmer, which took FOREVER, presumably since I wasn’t supposed to use that pot on my stove.  I carefully lowered the jars and lids in and sterilized them in the hot water.  Meanwhile, I add water and vinegar to a pot, plus garlic, onion, dill, and brining salt and brought that a boil.  Then I stuffed the Kirby’s into the jars that I had taken out of the boiling water, taking care not burn the shit out of my hands.  Which I did.  I then filled the jars with the vinegar brine leaving about 1/4 inch from the top of the jar.  I wiped the lip of the jar with a clean rag to insure a good seal, then placed the lid on and screwed down the cap.  Then I set the filled and sealed jars back in the boiling water, and let them boil for about 10 minutes.  I brought them out, let them sit on the counter to cool and soon I was listening to a cacophony of pops and hisses.  Worried, I did what any grown woman would do.  I called my mom. 

Apparently, sometimes whilst the jars are sealing they “pop”, which means the lids have officially sealed.  So after a few hours a few hadn’t popped yet, I figured the seals were no good, and I put them in the fridge so they could be eaten.  YAY for mistakes!  Well, I checked on them a little while after being refrigerated, and they had all sealed.  Mysterious.  My dearest husband explained to me that while the jars cool, they could seal from air pressure differences.  So.  The take away here is that canning for my first time was nerve-racking.  But, I’m totally glad I did it.  Because now I have no idea what the hell I was afraid of, and shall be a canning fool!  Time to stock pile all of those summer Farmer’s Market values, so that we can have yummy summertime treats in the winter!  Not to mention, that canning is a HUGE way to save lots of money.  I spent 30$ on a pot, rack, jars, lids, cukes, spices, and a big jug of vinegar.  I got six jars of pickles, so thats 5$ a jar.  But, the next batch will be less than 2$ a jar.  So the initial expense will have paid for itself by the second canning, assuming that the average jar of organic dill pickle spears runs you about 3.50$.  There you have it.  the truth about canning.  It’s unbeliavbly easy, and not to time consuming.  I hope that you all try it!  Save yourself some money, makes some yummy food that will last you awhile, and stock up your pantry with your favorite summertime produce!  My son is now running around the house asking for “icklees”.  So they are also 2 year-old approved. 

My first attempt at canning pickles

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies July 8, 2010

Also by request, my super chocolate cookie reicipe.  These are seriously addictive.  You have been warned.

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking soda

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup veggie oil/coconut oil

3/4 cup butter (vegan, Earth’s Balance is really good)

1/4 cup water

2 tsps pure vanilla extract

2 cups vegan chocolate chips

1/4 cup cocoa powder (make sure its 100 percent cocoa.)

1 tbsp molasses

Preheat oven to 375.  Either line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray with a non-stick coconut oil spray.  sift together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda and set aside.  I do this with a stand mixer, but you can use a hand mixer as well.  In the mixer bowl combine the butter, oil, and sugar- mixxing on medium high speed, untill light and fluffy.  Add in vanilla and molasses, and water, stirring well.  On low speed incorporate the flour mixture, a cup at a time, until moist.  After all flour is mixed in, add in the chocolate chips.  If the dough looks dry, don’t worry.  Bake for 10 minutes, let cool, and store in an airtight container at room temp.  The flavor and texture will improve after a few hours, so do not worry if they seem a little dry right out of the oven.

SOOOOOOO Damn Good.

Recipes by Request. Finally, I know. July 8, 2010

Yeah yeah yeah, I’ve been slacking.  I know.  Here you vultures!  (And, I say vultures in the most loving way possible.   )  This is my most favorite vegan crockpot recipe.  I LOVE my crockpot!  All you have to do is fill it up, turn it on, leave it the hell alone, and at the end of the day you have a hearty delicious meal.

Crockpot “Chicken” Stew

4 cups hot water

6 tbsps vegan chicken bullion (I use Better than Base, found at Publix)

1- 12oz vegan sour cream container

1/2 cup nuttitional yeast (I prefer Red Flag, or Braggs)

2 tbsps Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce, if you havent made the switch to Bragg’s yet.  I’ve found Bragg’s at Publix too, btw.)

2 tsps minced garlic

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 tbsp tarragon

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp turmeric

6 tbsps cornstarch or arrowroot powder (mixed with an equal amount of water)

Fresh chopped veggies of your choice.  I prefer:  Carrots, Green beans, Red Bliss potatoes, Celery, Green pepper, and Green onion.

Turn your crockpot on low, add everything but the cornstarch.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours (on high for 3-4), until veggies are to your preferred tenderness.  I like mine with a little bit of crunch left, so I tend to cook for the minimal time.  Stirring well, add the cornstarch mixture.  Continue to stir and your soup will thicken, becoming a stew.  Serve with whole wheat bread or biscuits for sopping up the yummy leftovers!

Creamy "chicken" crockpot stew

For all of my spiritual blog followers… July 8, 2010

Hey guys, I have a had another crazy busy week, so I’ve been lagging on the blog duties.  I’ll be making it up shortly, I have a ton of recipes to post. 

My blog today though is actually asking my readers to send prayers, good thoughts, and virtual hugs to a friend of mine.  Her little boy, Bryson (who is Auston’s age) has been battling ALL* (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) since he was 9 1/2 months old.  He is the sweetest little guy, with BRIGHT blue eyes and a smile that makes you want to melt!  Bryson is getting ready to undergo a Bone Marrow Transplant.  At 2-years old this little man has already seen  more of the inside of a hospital than anyone ever should. 

I read once that when the Japanese fix something that has been broken, they fill the cracks with gold.  They do this because they belive that when something of importance suffers damage, it becomes more beautiful.  I do not know if this is true or not, but, whenever I think about Bryson (which is quite a lot these days) I am reminded of that saying.  A little boy, of great importance to many people, who was “broken”,  who shines like his pieces were mended with gold. 

Bryson Horton, An Amazing little Man.

Anyways, those are just my humble thoughts on the matter.  If you would like to show your support, please visit Bryson’s Facebook group (you can search for it via Fight For Bryson, or his Carepages, under the name Bryson Horton.  I’m sure the family would appreciate any well wishes you could send their way.  Thanks everyone.

- A very thankful Lindsy

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=141144205897835&v=photos#!/group.php?gid=141144205897835&v=info

https://www.carepages.com/login

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_lymphoblastic_leukemia