These cookies have the flavor of a gingersnap, and the texture similar to a molasses chew. Usually I make things a few times after I create them before posting the recipe but not this time. I’m just that eager to share.
I’ve been asked several times lately if whole wheat flour can be used in place of oat flour in my recipes similar to this one. My answer is yes, however I’d use whole wheat pastry flour since it’s finer than regular whole wheat, which may be too coarse. Using all whole wheat in this recipe, as opposed to half oat and half wheat, would probably result in a less dense cookie, which may or may not be your thing. Personally, I’m all about dense. As I’ve mentioned before, light and airy makes me feel like I ate just that – AIR! The reason I use oat flour in so many recipes is not because I have anything against wheat. I don’t. It’s just that wheat is everywhere, in so many forms. I just like to sub other types of flour, and stay away from wheat when easily doable so that I’m eating more variety, and not so much wheat. As well, many people eat gluten-free diets so I try to incorporate as many suitable recipes as I can into my repertoire.
One more thing. The batter for these babies is SO good. I may or may not have eaten an entire cookie’s worth of batter. 🙂
Several years ago, I asked hubby for a bread maker. My big plan was to make lots of fresh-baked loaves of bread and never have to buy another loaf again. Ah, to be young with such lofty goals. I baked one loaf, it wasn’t great, and the unit was stored in the garage for several years. My older, and much wiser self decided to dust that bad boy off and give the whole bread-making thing another shot. SO glad I did! My amazingly wonderful friend Donna makes bread all the time and is always telling me how fun and easy it is – and how great it makes the house smell. She was so right!
I did some research and played around a bit with ingredients and ultimately came up with this whole grain treat. If you don’t have a bread maker, ask Santa or whomever to bring you one. You literally dump the ingredients in the metal “bowl”, and walk away. Definitely the lazy man’s way to make bread (though not as lazy as buying a loaf at the store!).
Recipe ideas come to me at odd moments, usually when I’m not even thinking about food (which, if I’m being honest, isn’t all that often). The idea for this one came to me on an airplane in the middle of reading a novel. Pretty random considering the story took place in 1940 Nazi Germany. Anyway, it occurred to me I’d never seen or heard of a recipe for twice baked SWEET potatoes, only russet. I’ve since done some searching and found many recipes (can’t believe I’d never seen any before) but most of them have more fat than a cheeseburger, with ingredients that just didn’t sound appealing to me (I will never understand adding brown sugar to sweet potatoes, especially when consuming them as an entree not a dessert. Hello!?! They’re already sweet!).
This recipe has the right combination of sweet, savory, tangy, spicy and salty. Honestly, it turned out better than I could have hoped. I was so excited for leftovers today. It’s a more time consuming meal since baking of the potatoes is required before anything else, but it’s not difficult by any means; just takes some planning ahead. Note: I prefer the lighter colored sweet potatoes as opposed to orange yams. I will be making this again VERY soon!
I created these muffins using the nervous energy I had yesterday, election day. I find elections, and politics in general, very stressful! Creating recipes and cooking is therapeutic for me. Combine that with the fact that I LOVE gingerbread, and you have these moist, delicious muffins.
UPDATE 11/11/12: I made these again but added a little holiday twist this time around. I sprinkled crushed peppermint candy on top before placing muffins in the oven. The combination of peppermint and gingerbread was a real treat!
Minestrone is easy to make, and there are a ton of recipes out there with different ingredients. I don’t know that there’s anything spectacularly different about this one but I love it, and wanted to put it out there. Feel free to play around with the types of veggies and amounts. The basil pesto topping is a MUST! You can find that recipe in Recipes on this site, or in the Forks Over Knives Cookbook.
If you’re thinking “BBQ, and lentils – in a taco!? Weird!”, think again. It’s delicious. Of course, if you aren’t a fan of BBQ, you won’t like it because it has a strong BBQ flavor. Personally, I’d like the lentil mixture without the sauce just as much, but the BBQ is yummy. These are easy to make and so flavorful. We enjoy them topped with my homemade non-dairy sour cream (see in Recipes on this site for Sour Un-Cream), raw cabbage and lime.
Note: this recipe is gluten-free only if you use a BBQ sauce that is gluten-free.
I came home from a 2-hour appointment that took place during the time I would normally eat lunch. It was 2:30, I was grumpy and nearly passing out from hunger (ok, so I’m exaggerating a tad – but you get the picture. I was HUNGRY!). I needed to put something together fast! Anyone who knows me well, knows I do NOT skip meals. If and when I do, it’s not pretty. Sure, I could have shoved my fist in the peanut butter jar (this may, or may not have happened previously), but I wanted to make a good, nutrient dense, low-fat choice.
I pulled mashed yams out of the freezer – sold by Trader Joe’s. The bag contains frozen “pucks” of cooked sweet potatoes and you simply reheat as little or as many as you need. Genius. Then, I grabbed the frozen chopped kale, also a Trader Joe’s item. And lastly, thank you Trader Joe’s – the frozen brown rice. I threw all these items with some water in a pan and had lunch in 5 minutes. I seasoned it with some hot sauce, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper. I was ready to eat in literally 5 minutes. Not only was it quick, and healthy with no fat, it was GOOD! Since I was basically delirious from hunger while preparing it, I didn’t measure or really even pay attention to amounts used. I will do my best to recount the details in the recipe here, so that you too can have a super quick and healthy meal next time you’re in starvation mode. It would be difficult to screw this dish up so play with it and enjoy!
I was inspired to create these tasty muffins as I was preparing for a 5 hour flight for which I would be leaving my house at 5 a.m. I knew it would be too early for my usual breakfast smoothie, and I was already planning on packing a PB&J sandwich for later in the day….what would I eat for breakfast?? God knows there wouldn’t be options on the plane. Sure, I could have brought Starbuck’s oatmeal or McDougall’s instant oatmeal (great for travel) on with me but I wanted something different; something substantial, not too sweet, and didn’t need to be warmed. Thus, these Cinnamon-Raisin Oatmeal Muffins were born!
Why are they called red lentils when they are pink, and become yellow once cooked? Weird. All I know is they make an amazing soup! Unlike other types of lentils, these cook and break down quickly, and end up soft, almost as if they have been pureed. The first few times I made this soup it was on the stove, but recently I used the crock pot and it was even better. There really is something to slow cooking, allowing the flavors to build and grow. Either way, it’s an easy, delicious meal, any time of year. One of our favorites!!
