Hi Veggie Mamas and fellow curious cooks!
Being vegetarian is a choice we make for many reasons, but usually at its heart this decision is made because we want to be healthy and teach our children how to make healthy choices too! Kudos to you!
I don't know about you, but many of my childhood memories included something warm and fresh from the oven and although those are yummy memories, making cookies the way our grandparents, godparents and favorite Aunts did can be startling! The amount of refined sugar, chocolate chips with ingredients I can't pronounce, and shortening oh my!
I love the smell of cookies baking and so I set about finding a way to share these wonderful warm memories with my own daughter and give it a healthy Veggie Mama twist.
The first recipe I played with was Chocolate Chip cookies, but that's a recipe for another day :-)
Today the topic is Oatmeal raisin cookies. These cookies in particular are fun to play with because no two people like them the same way. If I ask my Dad he would say, "chocolate doesn't belong in a oatmeal cookie!" My sister on the other hand thinks raisins are a sure fire way to ruin a good oatmeal cookie. The one thing they can both agree on is that cinnamon is a definite No.
So forgive me Dad, sorry Sis. Here is MY idea of an oatmeal cookie!
For those of you paying attention I used Betty Crocker's Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe as my jumping off point!
Ingredients:
1/3 cup organic sugar
1/3 cup organic agave (blue agave is thicker and just as good)
2/3 cup organic light brown sugar
1 cup organic, unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I found a Saigon Cinnamon by McCormick that is wonderful!)
1 tsp. organic pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
3 cups quick oats or old fashioned oats (by all means organic if you can find it!)
1 cup organic all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Chips (60% cocao)
1/2 cup dark chocolate covered raisins
I know, Better Crocker is probably scratching her head too, but trust me. These are amazing!
Heat your oven to 375 degrees, unless you have a gas stove which I now do and then you have to find the balance between 325 and 350 degrees :-)
Set aside oats, flour, chocolate chips and raisins for last.
In a large mixing bowl cream your sugar, brown sugar, agave and butter. Add eggs, mixing in one at a time. Add baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Mix until well blended.
Stir in flour until combined. Stir oats into batter until incorporated throughout.
Add chocolate chips and chocolate covered raisins and stir all together.
Drop via teaspoon or cookie scoop onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-11 minutes. Once the sides start to brown they are almost done, make sure the top doesn't look damp or your cookie is underdone. If the bottom is cooking too fast don't be afraid to turn down your heat a bit and let them cook up at their own pace.
Remove immediately from pan and place on cooling rack. If you're like me, once they are just cool enough to not burn yourself, break one of these bad boys open and take a gander at that wonderful blend of oats and antioxidant rich dark chocolate and raisins.
They aren't my Grandma's cookies, but I think she would approve!
Hope you enjoy!
Happy Veggie Eats!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Fall is here and The Veggie Mama is Back!
Hello fellow Veggie Mamas and curious cooks!
Summer is over and I'm back! The cooler weather has arrived, yes even in California believe it or not! Now that I get to snuggle in my favorite outfit, comfy jeans and a cuddly sweater, I'm ready to start the oven!
Once the weather turns cool all I seem to want to do is bake. Although my favorite creations tend to come in the form of cookies, I am going to venture on a journey this fall of creating wonderful (and simple) vegetarian meals that will leave your guests thinking you've gone carnivorous again!
Here's the first meal I experimented with taking what would have been a meat-full meal and giving it a Veggie Mama twist!
Rice a Roni makes a wonderful Spanich Rice. This is where my creation begins. The directions tell you to add a can of tomatoes (I like to buy the already diced version, organic if possible), but if you're looking for a bit more kick I like to add a jar of salsa instead. I've used an organic mild and an organic fire roasted tomato salsa and both were wonderful!
Follow the directions on the box and add your salsa. Once you've stirred in your salsa and other ingredients, grab yourself a bag of frozen corn (again organic if possible) and pour about half into your skillet before bringing it to a boil and dropping it to low.
While that rice is cooking up, grab a seperate pan and throw in some oil and heat it up on medium heat. Once it's nice and warm throw about half a bag of Quorn Chik'n Tenders (or Quorn crumbles) in and brown them up. Carefully, that oil will be hot :-)
Once your rice is all cooked up and fabulous, stir in your browned Quorn and voila! You have a wonderful meal full of protein, vitamins (corn AND tomatoes!) and lots of flavor. If you want to make it with tomatoes and throw in a little flavor of your own instead of salsa, I like to throw some smoked paprika and even the tiniest bit of cinnamon in for something different. It's an amazing flavor!
Your shopping list for the Spanish Rice dinner is:
Rice A Roni Spanish Rice
14.5 oz. Can of Diced tomatoes (or 16oz. jar of salsa)
Bag of Frozen Corn
Bag of frozen Quorn Chik'n Tenders or Quorn Crumbles
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (perfect for throwing on top as you serve)
My favorite guest wowing dessert to follow this dish with can easily be found on Food Network's website. Just search their recipes for Pears in Red Wine with a Fresh Cheese Filling! For a great flavor, if you have a Trader Joe's in your neck of the woods, grab yourself a bottle of Slow Paseo Organic Spanish wine. The first time I made this recipe I was able to use all organic ingredients and it was amazing. Truth be told, the next time I made it I didn't pick up the ingredients myself and they weren't all organic and the flavor of that first time just wasn't there.
Also, be sure your pears and nice and ripe and soft when you make your dessert.
I hope you enjoy this meal as much as we do! My daughter asks for it by name and loves the Quorn in it!
Happy Veggie Eats!
Summer is over and I'm back! The cooler weather has arrived, yes even in California believe it or not! Now that I get to snuggle in my favorite outfit, comfy jeans and a cuddly sweater, I'm ready to start the oven!
Once the weather turns cool all I seem to want to do is bake. Although my favorite creations tend to come in the form of cookies, I am going to venture on a journey this fall of creating wonderful (and simple) vegetarian meals that will leave your guests thinking you've gone carnivorous again!
Here's the first meal I experimented with taking what would have been a meat-full meal and giving it a Veggie Mama twist!
Rice a Roni makes a wonderful Spanich Rice. This is where my creation begins. The directions tell you to add a can of tomatoes (I like to buy the already diced version, organic if possible), but if you're looking for a bit more kick I like to add a jar of salsa instead. I've used an organic mild and an organic fire roasted tomato salsa and both were wonderful!
Follow the directions on the box and add your salsa. Once you've stirred in your salsa and other ingredients, grab yourself a bag of frozen corn (again organic if possible) and pour about half into your skillet before bringing it to a boil and dropping it to low.
While that rice is cooking up, grab a seperate pan and throw in some oil and heat it up on medium heat. Once it's nice and warm throw about half a bag of Quorn Chik'n Tenders (or Quorn crumbles) in and brown them up. Carefully, that oil will be hot :-)
Once your rice is all cooked up and fabulous, stir in your browned Quorn and voila! You have a wonderful meal full of protein, vitamins (corn AND tomatoes!) and lots of flavor. If you want to make it with tomatoes and throw in a little flavor of your own instead of salsa, I like to throw some smoked paprika and even the tiniest bit of cinnamon in for something different. It's an amazing flavor!
Your shopping list for the Spanish Rice dinner is:
Rice A Roni Spanish Rice
14.5 oz. Can of Diced tomatoes (or 16oz. jar of salsa)
Bag of Frozen Corn
Bag of frozen Quorn Chik'n Tenders or Quorn Crumbles
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (perfect for throwing on top as you serve)
My favorite guest wowing dessert to follow this dish with can easily be found on Food Network's website. Just search their recipes for Pears in Red Wine with a Fresh Cheese Filling! For a great flavor, if you have a Trader Joe's in your neck of the woods, grab yourself a bottle of Slow Paseo Organic Spanish wine. The first time I made this recipe I was able to use all organic ingredients and it was amazing. Truth be told, the next time I made it I didn't pick up the ingredients myself and they weren't all organic and the flavor of that first time just wasn't there.
Also, be sure your pears and nice and ripe and soft when you make your dessert.
I hope you enjoy this meal as much as we do! My daughter asks for it by name and loves the Quorn in it!
Happy Veggie Eats!
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