Peanut butter cookies and a personal project

A healthier peanut butter cookie.

I made these cookies and I liked them. A lot. So did the kiddos. I didn't get to making pumpkin or banana bread yesterday so I put one of these in my big boy's lunch today.

First, these cookies have sugar. They are cookies after all! The recipe I adapted this recipe from called for half white sugar and half brown sugar. I used all brown sugar because I prefer it over the white and some say it's a tad less processed? Regardless, I used it! You know those chocolate chip/chocolate drizzled granola bars you see/buy at the grocery store? These would be a good homemade replacement. You could even shape them into more of a square or small bar rather than round like a cookie. I hope you'll give this quick recipe a try.

Now for a little something a little more personal. Here's the scoop. I'll be 40 in six months. Any birthday can be a "big" birthday. For some 40 may or may not be. For me, it is. The most important part for me is embracing it, being excited about it and being present the moments leading up to it. I plan on learning more about myself over the next six months. I want to push the limits I've put on myself (oh there are so many!). I've been moving in this direction very slowly for a very long time. My goal is to step it up. So there it is. I'd love it if you followed me here at MFM. I could use the encouragement. Oh, and you know, you could join me... maybe you want to commit more fully to yourself, feel more inspired and learn to be more mindful as well. A big birthday or not, six months from now - who knows where we'll be?

Peanut Butter and Flax Cookies
Adapted from here.
Makes 15 cookies

Ingredients
2 tbsp Coconut oil or butter, room temperature
1/2 cup Natural peanut butter
2 tbsp Milk (your favorite type)
1 egg or 1 flax egg
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/2 cup Brown sugar, unpacked (I used a bit less than a 1/2 cup)
1 cup Oats
1/2 cup Whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 tbsp Ground flaxseed
1 cup Dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line baking sheet with parchment

Directions
1. In medium bowl, cream coconut oil or butter and peanut butter (this can take a while if mixing by hand).
2. Add milk, egg, vanilla and sugar. Mix well.
3. Add oats, whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda and flax. Stir gently to combine.
4. Mix in chocolate chips (still be gentle!).
5. Scoop with regular size cookie scoop onto lined baking sheet.
6. Bake 10 - 12 minutes.
7. Let cool (if you can wait that long) and enjoy!

Notes:
Make these vegan by using coconut oil, almond or other non-dairy milk, flax egg and vegan chocolate chips.

Swap out the peanut butter for any nut or seed butter if you like.

Let me know if you try replacing the brown sugar with honey or maple syrup. I'd love to know what adjustments were made and how they turned out.

Note: This recipe is an update from this original post.

Energy Scoops, Balls, Handfuls or whatever you want to call them!

These things are fantastic. Really. My sons and I did a happy dance the first time we ate one. This recipe comes from Eating Rules, a blog that I frequent. I've been participating in the October Unprocessed 2013 over there. It's been challenging. I thought I ate mostly unprocessed but I quickly realized that I do rely on a decent amount of food that is considered processed. Not "highly processed" but not "unprocessed." So the month hasn't been perfect but I'm learning new stuff like how easy it is to make my own almond milk. I'll be doing that ASAP. If you want to learn about how Eating Rules defines unprocessed, click here. They have a guide you can download as well.

Okay, back to the yummy mounds of goodness. I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of leaving mine in the shape of the scoop I used. This recipe is versatile. You can use any nut or seed butter, you can leave out the chocolate chips (I wouldn't!) and make them any size. They kind of taste like oatmeal cookie dough to me. I encourage everyone to make these. They're easy, affordable and make a great potluck or party item. I've also started to put them in my son's lunch on Fridays as a special treat.

Energy Balls
Original recipe here.

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
½ cup peanut or almond butter
½ cup chocolate chips
8 medjool dates (pitted)
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon flaxseed meal

Instructions:
1. Place all ingredients in food processor.
2. Mix thoroughly. Mixture will look crumbly.
3. Scoop or roll into balls.
4. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Welcoming 2013, finally. Pancakes, anyone?

Happy belated New Year! In typical fashion, I am  late. And, I haven't posted since mid November. My excuse? Well I have many but honestly the real reason is blogging is a passion of mine, certainly not a business, only a hobby and frankly my passions and hobbies seem to hang out at the bottom of the priority list. With two kiddos, a kindergartner and a preschooler (a preschool dropout actually, lol), it goes with the territory. So bear with me if you would, please? I have been in the kitchen whipping up some new foods and will be sharing as often as possible. See over there in the picture - Those are some recent "gems" and I will be sharing.

The start of a new year inspires us to make changes, do new things, etc. And although I'm not a "resolution" maker, I do feel a sense of renewal and motivation when a new year arrives. This year January brought me some sorrow though so it hasn't felt so inspiring thus far. One of my dear friends died suddenly. For the past nine months or so, I had been assisting my friend with getting healthier. She needed to lose weight, she needed to eat better. Her doctor told her it was imperative. I am not privy to the exact cause of death but I do know she was found unresponsive early on a Sunday morning. By the time the paramedics arrived, they said there was nothing they could do. I talked to her a few times the day before. And texted her the next morning, Sunday morning. We usually share weight loss info on Sunday mornings as we both were doing Weight Watchers. She never replied. In my heart, I feel this was a situation of too little too late. My friend needed to make some major changes. It was terribly hard for her. She would start and stop and start and stop and start again and stop again. She was finally being fairly consistent with walking on the treadmill with me two to four times a week. The food part was not consistent and was the toughest part for her. I look back on our text messages and see that she wasn't feeling well. She postponed our walk because she was feeling weak. She said it was because she hadn't been eating protein (because of her new braces making her teeth hurt). She also complained of a headache. At her service her sister-in-law told me she complained of a headache to her too as well as neck pain. Three days later, she died. I will likely never know if it was a stroke, a heart attack, or something else. I only know that my friend was unhealthy and was trying to change that. She tried but did not get a chance to get there.

With my friend passing, my mission to eat/make/share more real food and less processed food has become that much more important. Although my inspiration and motivation has been slowed, I am inspired to experiment more in the kitchen, challenge myself more (as a mom, a woman, a wife, an artist), to be organized enough to send birthday cards to my friends and family and to think positively. I'm going to turn my loss into more love for myself and others; more good food for my family and friends; and more recipes for you. And that's the short list. To kick off my 2013 recipes, let's eat pancakes! The base is the same as my whole wheat flax pancakes but this version has added spices. I hope you enjoy these as much as we did. Oh, and if topping with maple syrup, be good to yourself and use the real stuff!

Whole Wheat Cardamon, Nutmeg and Flax Pancakes

2 C whole wheat pastry flour

2 tbsp flax meal

1/2 tsp cardamon*

1/4 tsp nutmeg*

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 C buttermilk

2 eggs

2 egg whites, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, flax meal, cardamon, nutmeg, sea salt, baking powder and baking soda.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs and vanilla.

3. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and stir JUST until combined (do not over mix).

4. Gently fold in beaten egg whites.

5. Proceed with your usual method for making waffles or pancakes.

I used a large cookie dough/ice cream scoop for my pancakes and the recipe made 18 pancakes.

*I doubled the spices but I love cardamon and nutmeg! I also added sliced bananas to my pancakes during cooking - it was awesome!

Wheat & Flax Buttermilk Pancakes

I recently found a blog called Out of the Box Food. I'm always happy to find another like-minded blogger. The mom behind Out of the Box Food has a sharp focus on avoiding processed foods and provides recipes for common "kid foods" helping you avoid buying the boxed versions. Cool, right?

Although I still rely on a couple very common kid food items in a box (Thanks Annie's for making it seem okay!), I always strive to make as much of our food as I can myself, from scratch and/or using exclusively real food. Over the last few years I have seen my pantry go from quite a few processed items to just a few. And that for me is success.

While on the Out of the Box Food site, I was immediately drawn to the Wheat & Flax Buttermilk Waffle & Pancake recipe. Pancakes are a fave at our house and the mix of wheat, flax and buttermilk spoke to me. What makes it even better is, it's an easy recipe and is perfect for freezing the extra pancakes (or waffles). Since finding this recipe, I've made three batches and I'm about to make another being that I used the last of our supply in the freezer this morning.

The author recommends making an extra set of dry ingredients to store for future use. I did that and let me tell you, it made an already easy process easier and more importantly, quicker! I highly suggest doing this.

Wheat & Flax Buttermilk Waffles & Pancakes
Recipe from here.

2 C whole wheat pastry flour
2 tbsp flax meal
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 C buttermilk
2 eggs
2 egg whites, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sea salt, baking powder, baking soda and flax meal.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs and vanilla.
3. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and stir JUST until combined (do not over mix).
4. Gently fold in beaten egg whites.
5. Proceed with your usual method for making waffles or pancakes.

I used a large cookie dough/ice cream scoop for my pancakes and the recipe made 18 pancakes.

Recipe: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peanut butter and chocolate. Oh yes. I love, love, love peanut butter and I love, love, love chocolate. So when I came across a "healthier" peanut butter and chocolate cookie, I was in. I found the original recipe at Honey, What's Cooking?

I thought these would make a great addition to our Father's Day gift for the hubby and a decent treat for the boys. So I headed to the kitchen and got started. I made a few changes based on my personal preference. I used all brown sugar and no white sugar. I also added a touch of sea salt and used a mix of dark and milk chocolate chips.

These cookies came out great. They are thick, chewy and chocolaty. My dough was thick and didn't spread much. I gave them a little push down a few minutes before they were done baking. Next time I may just shape the cookies into hockey puck like rounds and see how it goes.


Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 9 big cookies (using a two-inch scoop)

1 Cup Old-Fashioned Oats
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon Flaxseed Meal
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1/2 Cup Natural Peanut Butter, salted or unsalted
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Reduced Fat 2% Milk
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment.
2. In a medium bowl, combine oatmeal, whole wheat flour, baking soda, flaxseed and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and peanut butter. Add brown sugar, milk, egg and vanilla. Mix until well combined.
4. Add oatmeal mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing gently until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Scoop cookies onto baking sheet and bake for 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool (if you can) and enjoy!

You can find this recipe and lots of other sweet treats over at Sweet As Sugar Cookies. Check them out. Get inspired.

Good snack

I like to bake and enjoy finding and trying new recipes. Upon searching for a replacement for my husband's afternoon snack of packaged fig bars, I found the following recipe from a great blog called Enlightened Cooking.

This bread is fantastic! I changed one ingredient, link to the original recipe is at the end of this post.

Camilla’s Whole Grain Banana Bread with Flax

2 cups white whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons ground flaxseeds (flax meal)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 and 2/3 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/3 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x5-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl whisk the flour, flax, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer (I hand mixed it) set at medium speed until well blended. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the banana, yogurt, and vanilla until just blended. Stir in the flour mixture by hand until just blended. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake 55-60 minutes (mine is always done at 55 minutes) or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Invert onto wire rack, turn upright, and cool completely. Makes 14 slices/servings. (I slice it into 12 pieces.)

Camilla’s Whole Grain Banana Bread with Flax is a must try recipe. Click here for the original post/recipe.