Oatmeal Cookies

To recognize a blogging lapse or not to recognize a blogging lapse, that is the question. This time I’m going to power through as though nothing has happened and not make empty promises. Obviously I like baking, however, I am not a huge fan of everything I bake. I will have a few samples of the dough or batter while prepping and one or two of the finished product, but cookies are not a part of my daily menu. Peanut butter, chocolate chip, snickerdoodles, and so on are all delicious but when I bake because I want to nom some treats I tend to go for oatmeal raisin cookies. This afternoon I whipped up some of those and some oatmeal chocolate chip.

Ohsome Oatmeal Cookies!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup water
1 cup flour (I used unbleached all purpose)
1 cup oats (I used old fashioned rolled)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (I typically use closer to a 1/2 tsp but I love sweet and salty in an almost obsessive way)

Optional:
a pinch of cinnamon
1/4-1/2 cup chocolate chips or raisins (or both) depending how chocolatey/raisiny you like it

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and grease or line cookie sheets. Cream the first four ingredients. Add the flour, oats, salt, and baking powder. If your dough looks to dry add a little more water. Fold in the raisins or chocolate chips.  Place by rounded spoonful onto cookie sheet.  Bake for about twelve minutes.  Allow a few minutes to cool, then nom nom nom. Makes about 18 cookies that are 2″ in diameter.

cooking

I love to cook, but sometimes I hate it. The is in the creation of new recipes, of the sense of accomplishment that comes when a meal just works. However,  cooking is often associated with women, and I don’t like being a stereotype.  I’m married and people feel like it’s appropriate to comment on the fact that I like to cook, by saying that I’m a good wife.  I understand that its meant to be a compliment, yet every time someone says it I want to punch them in the face.  I don’t see cooking as a “wifely” duty, I firmly and steadfastly believe in equality in the home.   My husband and I both work, and since we try to stick to a budget cooking is a necessity.  I do the majority of the cooking, but it’s because I enjoy it – not because it’s expected of me.  Most modern relationships are comprised of shared duties, and I think people gravitate towards what they enjoy doing.  In my opinion, cooking is not just for women and women aren’t just for cooking.

Fresh Rolls

It’s been forever since I posted.  I had some technical issues, like a fried hard drive. As well as some motivation issues, as in story of my life.  I’m back and hopefully on the path to more frequent posting.  I’ve been doing a decent amount of baking and cooking, some more successful than others.  There is a molasses cookie recipe that I’ve made countless times, yet has somehow failed the last three times I tried it.  I will conquer it and share it soon.  We’ve been trying to cut back on the grocery bill and as a result one night a few weeks ago I found myself trying to cook from the pantry.  I had a few limp carrots, some avocados, chard, cilantro, leftover peanut noodles, and tons of avocados to work with.  Searching for some way to put them together, I remembered a package of dry spring roll wrappers I’d picked up at a local asian market. They were 1.50 for about a hundred and fifty wrappers.  Fresh rolls immediately popped into my head,  I also diced some tofu and pan friend it with some pressed garlic so I guess they are just mostly fresh rolls. They were 1.50 for about a hundred and fifty wrappers.  Never having used them before I had to google it, it looked fairly easy and I set to work.  The technique is straight forward, you just dip the wrapper in warm water to soften it.  Next you lay it flat and put your ingredients in.  I started with a piece of chard and some cilantro, then piled everything else on top. After that you roll it into a rolly shape and viola.  I ate mine dipped in soy sauce and they were perfect.  I have a feeling I’m going to be making tons of these over the summer.

Pizza!

Pizza is kind of my thing.  I make it often, typically once a week, and nearly anytime we have company.  It’s easy, makes tons, and is delicious.  My mom gave me a old bread maker a few months ago and it is one of my favorite kitchen appliances.  Even without a machine, home made pizza dough is fun and easy to make.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of tepid* water
1 package of yeast
aprox 1 Tablespoon of maple syrup
a pinch of salt
3-3.5 cups of flour

Do this:
Pour the water into a mixing bowl, glass works best but any kind will do.  Sprinkle the yeast over the water.  Wait a few minutes for it to get frothy, I love this part – yeast is so neat! Next add the maple syrup and  give it a swish.  After that add the salt and then the flour.  I usually add three cups and then stir to combine, if it looks wet I add the rest of the flour.  Once a dough forms I abandon the spoon and knead by hand (this is where the bread machine comes in handy).    Following the kneading, I cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and set it on the radiator.  Any warm dark place will do, even the kitchen counter works fine, if my kitchen had counters that’s where I would set it.  Leave it to rise for about a half hour, then punch it down. You can gently punch it, or poke, anything to get some of the air out, I like to give it a good solid jab. After you beat it up a bit, leave it to rise for another half hour. It’s fine to leave it to rise for longer than that, but more than a few hours and it starts to ferment which makes your pizza dough more like a sourdough.  If you aren’t going to use it that day, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge.  Prior to using it, it should be set out and allowed to reach room temperature before spreading.

If using a bread machine, put the ingredients in the same order, but the machine will knead and provide a warm, dark place for rising. Punching after a half hour is still good, and you will want to monitor the kneading process too make sure the dough isn’t too wet or too dry.

When it comes to spreading the dough you have a few options.  One is rolling it.  The other is difficult to explain, I may have to make a video to illustrate it. It involves using your hands to push all the air out of the dough, while spreading it. Either method, it’s a good idea to lightly flour your hands, and keep the flour handy for any stickiness that may arise.  I typically make square pizzas, because they are easier to spread and I’m lazy. It’s all about what feels right for you, square or round.

Once the dough is spread, you can top with tomato sauce and vegan cheese (I’m partial to vegan gourmet).  Fresh basil is always a good addition, as are spinach and tomatoes.  Anything goes.  Something I’ve been doing lately is making a Mexican style pizza.  I season black beans and corn with taco seasoning, either from a package or a mixture of cayenne, cumin, coriander, and whatever else I have around, and then top with cheese.  Enchilada or hot sauce makes a good base as well.

Bake at 375.  After thirty minutes or so I check the crust by lifting up a corner and checking to see if its browned.  If it has, I throw the broiler on, and broil for about five minutes to get the cheese nice and melted.  If you go the broiling method, keep an eye on your crust because it can easily get a bit burned if broiled for too long.  Always let your pizza cool for a few minutes, it easier to cut, and you don’t blister the roof of your mouth.

boo

I’ve been neglecting the blog as late of late.  In my defense, it’s the last week of school before finals and I’ve been swamped.  I’ve been cooking, nothing exciting though, just quick soups, stir fries, and one pot meals.  I am working on a few posts and hopefully by tomorrow I’ll have one ready that’s all about pizza, which is one of my favorite meals.  I’m working on putting together some quick, easy, and inexpensive recipes as well.  In the meantime, does anyone have any requests?

Borscht

I’ve been meaning to give Borscht a try.  Russell Street Deli in Eastern Market opened my eyes to it a few weeks ago. Borscht is beet soup, originating in the Ukraine, at least that’s what a google search informed me.  I highly recommend not reading descriptions of it, I cannot read about all the cream and butter without feeling sick to my stomach.  I like soups that get their creaminess from starches, like potatoes or beets.  My take on borscht is not at all creamy or heavy, but the color is out of this world.  I couldn’t take a picture that capture it in all it’s glory, so I’m going to skip it this time. Take my word for it though, the soup is a a bright purple, I’m going to call it magenta.

Ingredients:

Three medium sized beets peeled and chopped
Two medium sized yukon gold potatoes (or whatever potatoes you have on hand – I used a combo of baby white and reds)
One medium onion
Two or three cloves of garlic (I used about six but I love garlic forever)
One big carrot chopped
Water
Salt
Olive oil (optional)

Notes: Do your best to chop all the root vegetables roughly the same size, so they cook at around the same time. Any dirt that is on your veggies will be in your soup – this is not delicious! Washing them before chopping is a good way to avoid dirt.  I only peel the beets, if you would like to you can peel the potatoes and carrot, but I’m lazy and my mom told me you lose lost of good vitamins when you ditch the skin so I rarely peel veggies.

Directives:

Step One: Dump all ingredients into pot, pour enough water in to cover them

Step Two: Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to simmer.

Step Three: Once potatoes and beets are soft begin blending the soup in small batches in your blender (Obviously an immersion blender works too). Make sure the batches are small, if they are too large the steam cannot escape and steaming hot pink soup will explode all over your kitchen and possibly your hand (not that I know from personal experience or anything). After mixing add back to soup pot.  If you want to leave chunks because you don’t like your soup totally pureed go right ahead, you’re the one eating it.  I added drizzled a little olive oil into a few batches while they were blending in order to give it a little more staying power, it didn’t totally blend so if a little olive oil on the surface of your soup makes you uncomfortable skip it.

Step Four: Stir together and continue heating over low heat until you’re ready to eat.

I have no idea how many servings this makes, enough for dinner for two and lunches for the entire week – so let’s go with eight. It is absolutely delicious with chunks of baguette used to sop up the soup.

Of blogs and blogging…

I’ve been thinking about starting a blog for awhile now, and by awhile I mean at least two years. My intention is to stick mostly to food on here, but I’m sure I will occasionally delve into other topics that I feel passionate about. I’ve been vegan for twelve years now and cooking and eating this way is normal to me.  It’s far from hard, its comfortable.  I want to share the simplicity of eating and cooking tasty vegan food made with mostly local ingredients. I shop at the local outdoor market every Saturday for fresh produce and do my best to base meals around what’s in season.  This is not always easy or practical during Michigan winters, but I do my best. While it’s not always feasible to buy locally grown produce, I do frequent smaller local business as opposed to bigger chain type stores.  The best and most affordable health food store I’ve ever encountered is just two miles away, so I do the bulk of my staple shopping there.  Once a month or so I hit up the local Kroger for a few things the health food store doesn’t stock, but Kroger is still a Michigan based business even if it is a chain. I’m excited to share what I come up with! I play loose and fast with ingredients while I’m cooking, so it’s going to be a challenge for me to document some recipes, but I’m confident that I can make it happen.  Thanks for reading!

Coconut-Chocolate Chip Cookies

There is a bakery in town that serves the most amazing chocolate-chip coconut cookies. They are addictive and the tiny chocolate chips are so endearing. I’ve been wanting to replicate them for awhile, and today I finally got around to it.

Recipe!
1/2 cup margarine softened
1/2 cup coconut oil*
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup apple sauce or egg replacer+ 1/2cup water
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions!
Step One: Heat oven to 350, grease or line with parchment paper two cookie sheets

Step Two: Cream together coconut oil and margarine, making sure there are no chunks of coconut oil remaining.

Step Three: Add vanilla and apple sauce and mix.

Step Four: Once well combined, dump in the flour, soda, and salt. Mix until dough forms.

Step Five: Next add in the baby chips and the coconut yums and gently combine.

Step Six: Scoop out about a tablespoon of dough onto the cookie sheet, allow room for cookies to spread.

Step Seven: Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Step Eight: Allow to cool so you don’t burn you mouth and then nom nom nom.

Recipe makes two and a half dozen good sized cookies. Just so you know, if you want to make more use more dough and if you want to make less, use less dough.

*Coconut Oil is solid at room temp, so is a nice alternative to shortening