Thumb-print Cookies

1/2 cup honey**
1/3 cup warm coconut oil or clarified butter
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon cornstarch (or arrowroot)
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
zest of one lemon
your favorite jam or preserves (preferably fruit sweetened) - berry goes nicely

**The original recipe is found here and calls for 2/3 cup honey

Preheat the oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan and mix with honey and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. In a separate medium bowl combine the flour, oats, cornstarch/arrowroot, sea salt, baking soda, and lemon zest. Add the flour mixture to the honey and stir until just combined. Let the dough sit for 2-3 minutes and stir once again- the dough should be quite stiff.

Roll the dough into balls one level teaspoonful at a time, and place an inch or so apart on the prepared baking sheets. These will spread. Use a (damp) pinky finger or the back of a very tiny spoon to make a well in the top of each ball of dough. Fill each well to the top with 1/8 teaspoon of jam.

Bake for 7 - 9 minutes or until the bottom and edges of the cookies are just golden. Resist the urge to over-bake, because they will dry right out.

Basic Lettuce and Fruit Salad

I know no one reads this blog, but I'm posting anyway. I made a delicious salad for lunch today, so I thought I'd share the happiness. It's really basic, but sometimes it's nice to be reminded of the basics, right?

Here's what you'll need for one lunch serving:

3-4 leaves of romaine lettuce

1 small apple (any flavor. I like pink lady or cameo)

4 medium strawberries

2 tablespoons raisins

1.5 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon lemon juice

a pinch of sea salt

Tear or cut the lettuce and set aside. Chop the apple into small pieces and slice the strawberries. Put the apples, strawberries, raisins, honey and lemon juice in a bowl and mix. Mix the dressed fruit and lettuce and sprinkle with salt. Enjoy.

This salad was so refreshing and it made me all the more excited for summer. I can't wait for all that fresh and juicy produce!

I hope you are all feeling healthy and happy.

Bonnie

Interesting information

My mother-in-law told me about a man she met in St. George. They started talking and she found out that he was a Vegan and had had a lot of success with helping people lose weight and gain health by sharing his knowledge with others. I have been looking at his website all morning and have found it very interesting...it's not anything really new to me after reading so much about plant based diets, but it does help solidify my views on things. I found this bit of information interesting and if anyone is interested in his website it is vegan-weight-loss.com


According to Dr T. Colin Campbell, nutritional researcher at Cornell University and director of the largest epidemiological study in history:

"The vast majority of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases and other forms of degenerative illness can be prevented simply by adopting a plant-based diet."

Heart disease, cancer, strokes, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity and other diseases have all been linked to meat and dairy consumption.

tofu yogurt

So, Olivia has been sick, and didn't eat anything for a few days. I started to get worried and decided that I needed a new approach.  I bought some silken tofu and blended it with fruit to make something like a yogurt, and it turned out pretty good.  She at 2 cups of it, and some scrambled eggs (organic, of course), and seems to be doing better this evening.  I'm not really a tofu/soy buff, but I'd recommend trying it if your struggling giving up dairy, or getting your children to give up yogurt.  It kept in the fridge a while, and tasted better after being chilled.

quick bean burgers

hi all.  i tried some pre-maid falafel mix last week.  it was pretty good and really easy to make at home.  here's some of the basic ingredients and proportions:

1 3/4 cup chickpea flour

1/4 cup ww flour

onion powder

garlic powder 

salt 

dried herbs like parsley

you mix all the ingredients in a bowl and add 1 1/2 cups water to 2 cups flour mix.  stir it together and let sit 10-20 minutes, until water is all absorbed.  you might try adding a little ground flaxseed to hold it together.  to cook you can deep fry them, or, i just oil a cookie sheet and place patties on that, then bake for 25 min at 375, flipping halfway through.

i'm still playing around with this, so i don't have an exact recipe.  adding a little uncooked millet before soaking lends a good texture, and bread crumbs help too. it's an easy way to use beans. i also use bean flour in breads, cakes and cookies to lighten them up, and sprouted beans in stir fry or coarsely ground and sprinkled on pizza's.  cooked beans make great spreads and dips and black beans are excellent on their own or mixed with salsa and guacamole.  

beans are my greatest culinary challenge, so if you have any ideas please post them.

All dried up!!

Last Thursday I woke up and felt like drying a bunch of food. The kids thought that it was a fun project for school and we all pitched in! We dried bananas and made fruit leather. We made some granola(that the kids promptly devoured) and we even tried making the raw potato chips that I found in a recipe book of Mom's. They turned out surprisingly 'chippy', but I really didn't like the apple cider vinegar taste on them. Next time I will try lime or some other flavoring to keep them from browning in the dehydrator.

Anyway, we had a good day and filled all of our dryer trays with good snacks. It's really a lot of fun to teach the kids about healthy eating. Seth even decide to try all raw this week...we'll see how he likes it!!

recipe book

Hi guys.  I'm working on publishing a book of all my recipes (not for sale, just for me and anyone who wants one. cost is about 10$) and would like to add some of your favorites as well.  This is kind of a culmination project to wrap up my 1 1/2 year obsession with health foods and allow me to move on to other things like my schooling and homeschool.  Please keep posting and add digital pictures, if you can, so that I can add them into the book.  Thanks. 

Candice