Easy Granola Wedge Cookie

I really wanted to bake something new for The Captain this week – he is not following my new eating plan  although he does very well with, and enjoys the paleo meals I make, he is not about to give up his own favorite carbs… pasta, cookies with milk, pancakes, waffles, cupcakes, white potatoes, and the occasional handful of praline peanuts!

So, I have like to make an effort to make something just for him once in a while. 

I reread a blog post I got recently in my mailbox from spabettie that had a recipe for a Spicy Granola Wedge Cookie that you bake an then cut into wedges. She had a link to the original recipe, too, upon which her own vegan and gluten free adaptation was based.

So I followed the link and found a cookie that would be more suitable to The Captain’s taste buds, but along the way made a few changes of my own.

We don’t use canola oil so I opted for coconut oil in its place.  And I also used salted cashew pieces instead of the pecans, so I left out the salt and the baking soda.

This wedge cookie is so easy to put together and because you just spread the dough and bake it like a cake, there is none of the fuss and time involved in shaping individual cookies… I almost felt guilty, they were so easy and quick.

Apparently I no longer have a pie plate…  have not a clue where it might have run off to, so I spread the raw cookie dough into the shape of square, well approximately a square, in the bottom of a cake pan. 




It’s a nice thick dough that holds together very well.




I baked it for a couple of minutes longer than the recipe suggests…




And then let it cool for a few minutes before cutting it and serving a slice to my Mr. Sweet Tooth for his morning coffee treat.




It is a nice thick cookie, not too sweet…



And we found out that it holds up well in a baggie tucked in your pocket when you go hiking too!

Even with my changes, the N.I. is going to be pretty much the same as that which the author gives.

For my Weight Watchers buddies, that makes each of the 8 wedges worth 5 P+.  Not bad for a hefty heavy serving and of course you could always share it with a friend!

So, check out the original recipe, and also the vegan and gluten free version from spabettie.  And do use a round pie plate if you have one… the triangular wedges are cuter!

What’s your favorite easy cookie recipe?  Have one to share?

Kitchen Mishaps and Minor Disasters

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago I made a batch of gluten free chocolate chip cookies for my sister-in-law who was about to pay us a visit, along with her husband… and I had a bit of an OOPS! with the cookie dough.

I creamed some butter in a large bowl and added some brown sugar and beat. and then I added some salt instead of white sugar into the batter.  After several minutes I realized my error and threw the whole mess away… washed my hands, got out some clean utensils and started over. Arghhh!

But after I finally and successfully made those cookies, I started thinking about a few other minor kitchen disasters I have had over the years.  I haven’t blown anything up, but I did start a fire in the toaster once, and I have had several minor burns and cuts… one that resulted in stitches at the ER.

The year I cooked my first ever Christmas turkey, we had guests on Christmas Eve for dinner.  I did a very traditional meal… roast turkey with all the fixin’s and after our guests were wined and dined and gone home, I set the leftover turkey in the oven to get it out of the way while I did the dishes… I found it 3 days later when I opened the oven door to bake some cookies (hmmm…. probably chocolate chip)  and found the little carcass there, wearing a green fuzzy coat, and smelling pretty rank. 

That is not something I will likely ever forget… the color of that mold or the smell of it either!

So this reminiscing got me to wondering what kinds of things other people get up to in their kitchens. I asked some Fitfluential friends to share some of their culinary mishaps and here are some of the responses I got.  I swear you can’t make this stuff up!

I know you will enjoy these stories as much as I did! Go ahead and CLICK on the highlighted text to link to the original blog post and see their pictures, too.

• Laura from Sprint 2 the Table shows you a picture of why you should never cook topless! Ouch!
• Emily from Perfection isn’t Happy admits to learning a humbling lesson. My MIL would love this one for sure. 
• Christine  from Love Life Surf advises how not to make a birthday cake. Ah…
• A bit of advice from Coco from Running with Perseverance on hiding spinach in your family’s food! Yeah, that color!   And she also shared a little story about an incident with a smoke detector.
• A couple of stories from Carrie from Family Fitness Food… one about her failure when attempting to make almond butter and another about a recommended protein cookie recipe that didn’t work out…
• And a really funny story about a Thanksgiving Dinner that nearly didn’t happen from Erika at MCM Mama. I think I might have given up!

Carrie also shared a recipe with me by email and a picture of the results of cooking what was supposed to be Protein Pancakes – Carrie is a pancake LOVER in case you didn’t know.

The ingredients sound good -  1/3c ground oats, 1 serving Whey protein, 1 egg, almond milk, vanilla, cinnamon and ½ tsp. baking powder. 

And Carrie’s comment?  “Not sure what went wrong.  They were awful.”
 

Yes, they do look a little crunchy, Carrie!

And Tamara from fitknitchick sent me a message with this cute story… in her own words:

“ I love to bake for my family. I'm always taking not-so-clean recipes and trying to 'healthify' them. I often add wheat germ, bran, chia and flax seed to cookies, cakes and muffins to boost their nutritional impact.
My daughter's very favourite dessert is a one pot, stove-top brownie. One day I was a bit heavy handed with the flax seed. They turned out very dry and grainy and did not pass the child's 'sweet tooth' test. My husband called it a 'flaxident'; we still refer to the incident every time I make that recipe!”

Thanks to all of you for sharing yourselves and your foibles… it makes me feel so much better knowing that some of you make mistakes in the kitchen too!
 
Do you have a kitchen mishap story that you would like to share with me too?

Massage Your Kale for Quickie Salads

I had never heard of massaged kale until I read a blog post by Tamara at fitknitchick about making it up and keeping it in the refrigerator, in order to have a quick base for salads when you need it.

I thought it was an interesting idea, and then quite promptly forgot about it.

Now, I am a big fan of kale… I like it baked into Kale Chips, and I love using it in soup, or in my White Bean and Kale pasta sauce, and I also like to use it in place of, or with, spinach when I make Coconut Chicken.

I had really never thought to use raw as a salad green.  I just assumed the kale leaves would be too tough for that.  Oh, boy, was I wrong!

Whenever I find what we call curly kale at my local market for a really great price, I stock up.  Then I wonder what I am going to do with it all!  (Do you ever do that?)

Well, Tamara’s method for massaged kale is such a good idea.  All you do is mix the washed and torn kale leaves with a nice dressing, and then store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 or 5 days… taking enough to make your salads as you need, and leaving the rest behind. 

The dressing makes the leaves a bit softer after a couple of days, and it really does make a nice base for lots of different salads.

I made a batch of massaged kale this past week using the following method and I got 3 good sized salads out of it. Now when I have salad for dinner, I have a plate full, so if you don’t eat as much as I do, you might get more servings out of it.  Of course you might want to use the whole thing for one big salad to serve many… up to you, but the method is the same.

Massaged Kale
Enough for 3 dinner salads

• 1 bunch kale, large stems removed and leaves torn… washed and dried in salad spinner

Dressing

• 1Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbs lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed and minced

1. Mix well and then pour over the kale in the bowl.
2. Massage the dressing into the kale with your hands for a few minutes. Kale leaves should be completely covered with dressing mixture.
3. Cover bowl and place in refrigerator for up to 5 days
4. Use as needed for salads.  Give the remainder a stir, cover and refrigerate till needed.

If you are a Weight Watcher, and counting Points Plus, then the only thing to be concerned about is the olive oil which has a P+ value of 1 for each tsp of oil. So, for the whole recipe, the P+ value is 3.  You can divide that by the number of servings you make and eat.

The possibilities for salads are only limited by your imagination and your tastebuds. 

When I made my first salad with the massaged kale, I added a bit of torn red lettuce leaves to it… then some slices of grape tomato, mushroom, onion, and cucumber, and then topped it with some roast chicken breast, oregano, and dark balsamic vinegar.




I was so good that the next day, I used some more.  This time my salad was made of slices of red pepper, onion, mushroom, and cucumber, and topped with pieces of a navel orange, some roast pork loin and drizzled with blueberry balsamic vinegar.  I also blanched some green beans to eat alongside.

I think you could probably massage your kale with any oil and vinegar combination you like too, or even a nooch and vinegar combo instead of the olive oil and lemon juice that I used… and I am sure you could leave out the garlic too, but why would you?

Have you tried massaged kale yet?

What is your favorite salad green?