Banana Oatmeal and Cranberry Cookies
It’s been years since the last time I made these cookies, and I’m kicking myself for not saving the recipe. I clearly did not have blogging on my radar back then! It took a few batches for me to figure out how to recreate these no-sugar added, all-natural treats. I think I got it! And with the help of this blog, I’ll never forget how to make them again… unless the blog crashes, but lets not think about that!
What I did remember about making these cookies were my motives:
1. I wanted to bake a treat that used as few ingredients as possible.
2. Something that would be good to take to work as a somewhat healthy ‘dessert’ so I wouldn’t head for the Twix in the vending machine.
3. If eating one cookie turned into eating a half dozen cookies, I wouldn’t feel completely guilty about it.
I was surprised by how well the cookies stayed together as they baked. They don’t need eggs to give them that “stickiness”. Bananas do the trick … I call that versatility! I originally added dried blueberries to the batter, which I highly recommend and actually prefer, but they’re just a little too expensive right now, so I went with dried cranberries this time. You could experiment and use different kinds of dried fruit though.
As I mentally go down the list of ingredients, it strikes me that you could probably snag one of these cookies for breakfast. No, really! Think about it: bananas, oatmeal, honey, dried fruit. It’s practically oatmeal cereal in cookie form. So, go ahead eat cookies for breakfast! (Just don’t tell your kids or they might beg you for Oreos instead!) If you’d prefer a sweeter snack, throw in some chocolate chips. The possibilities are endless…
Banana, Oatmeal and Cranberries
INGREDIENTS
(Makes 1 Dozen)
2 cups oatmeal
2-3 slightly brown bananas (3 if they’re smaller)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Drizzle of honey
1/4 cup dried blueberries, cranberries or other dried fruit
1 tablespoon Nutella (optional)
PREP
1. Preheat Oven to 350.
2. Mash bananas in a mixing bowl.
3. Add oatmeal and stir to combine.
4. Add oil, honey and nutella. Stir to combine.
5. Add dried blueberries, cranberries or other dried fruit.
6. Use a cereal teaspoon to spoon out the size of cookie you’d like. They don’t expand so what you drop on the baking sheet is about the size you’ll get.
7. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.
Mango, Banana and Raspberries
My mango love affair continues! In fact, I may be officially hooked. The mango I used for my salad last week was so ripe and juicy and delicious that I wasted no time in going back to the store to pick up two more. Bonus: they’re ridiculously cheap right now! If this is mango season, I never want it to end (too bad avocados are back up to $2).
One of the easiest ways I’ve found to utilize fresh fruit – and ensure they don’t go bad before I use them – is for a morning smoothie. I’ve been blending up drinks like crazy lately. For me, it’s a fast way for a non-breakfast eater to get some good nutrition first thing in the morning. However, my smoothie routine has become quite boring of late: strawberry, banana, frozen mixed berries, repeat. This morning, I decided to kick-start my day with an exotic, tropical twist: mango (of course), raspberries, banana, and orange juice. It has a great tangy flavor!
Mango Smoothie
One tip to dicing mangos: Be warned, I’ve come to find out they have a hard center. I’ve had success in slicing the mango flesh on all four sides, essentially cutting around the core, then going back and cutting off whatever else that can be salvaged from the core. And of course you’ll want to strip away the peel leaving as much of the flesh as you can.
I think a vacation in Hawaii may be in order to satisfy my tropical temptations 24/7!
INGREDIENTS:
(Makes 1-2 Glasses)
1/2 a mango diced
1 Banana
Handfull of Raspberries
2/3 Cup of Orange Juice
4 Ice Cubes
PREP:
Blend all ingredients until smooth
Mango Smoothie
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Mango Arugula Salad
Sneaky Spinach Smoothie
Mango Arugula Salad
Is it summer yet? No? Well, just because the calendar still says spring doesn’t mean my lunch bowl has to. I plan to drag this summer out as long as I can, any way I can. So, I thought I’d get a jump on the season in the kitchen. Hello, Mango!
Fresh Mango is Amazing
Warm weather reminds me of the tropics, which reminds me of tropical fruit, which is fanning my mango obsession right now. Confession time: I’ve never actually bought a mango before, let alone cooked with one, but the display in the store was practically beckoning me today… and once I get a craving, I have to quench it. Big problem: I wasn’t sure what to do with the mango once I got it home. I’m sure you could dice them up for a fruit salad or just peel and eat them like an apple (which I did… often… as I was making this recipe), but I kind of wanted to incorporate the fruit into a salad. My goal, brighten up a boring lunch, and brighten my spirits at work a bit. I may be stuck in an office, but for the briefest of moments I want to imagine I’m on a beach somewhere sitting under a mango tree. A girl can dream, right?!
This salad totally transported me. It has all the makings of a tropical tidal wave of flavor: mango, avocado, cilantro, tomato, lime, (you could probably kick it up with jalapeños) and a honey-lime chipolte dressing. Cue the Jimmy Buffet songs! Now if only drinking a coconut cocktail was allowed at work!
Fresh Mango
INGREDIENTS
(serves 1)
Salad:
2 cups arugula
1/2 mango diced
1/2 avocado diced
1/2 to 1 tomato diced (depending on the size)
1 handful of cilantro chopped
Dressing:
1/4 cup of olive oil
Juice from 1/2 a lime
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon chipolte chile pepper
Lemon Arugula Pasta
Making dinner the day before grocery day can be a bit of a challenge, especially if you want to cook something healthy. If you’re lucky, you still have some fresh vegetables that haven’t gone bad yet, and they make sense with the frozen or dry food you have stockpiled in the pantry. More often than not, I’m stuck with a totally unusable mish-mash of unrelated ingredients. For me, being short on veggies means I’m also short on options, but like Tim Gunn says you have to “make it work.”
I applied that Project Runway advice to Project: Dinner tonight. I had some arugula in the crisper, and that’s about it! Since I love arugula in my cold pasta salad, I dared to try it in a warm pasta dish. I was also inspired by Gwyneth’s Lemon Parmesan Pasta. Mashing the two together made for a quick and delicious dinner… and don’t you just feel better about dinner when you can sneak some greens into the meal?!
Time to go grocery shopping and restock the veggie drawer!
INGREDIENTS
(serves 2-4)
1/2 pound of spaghetti
3-4 cups of arugula
1 cup of fresshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
Juice from one lemon
Salt
Red pepper flakes
PREP
1. Boil pasta in salted pot
2. In a big bowl, combine parmesan, lemon zest, juice salt, and pepper flakes and mix them into a paste.
3. Add arugula to the bowl.
4. When pasta is done, drain, then immediately add pasta to the bowl and toss everything together so the arugula warms and wilts a bit.
5. Dish out pasta and top with more fresh Parmesan cheese
Fiesta Egg Scramble
The Cinqo de Mayo party’s over. So is the after-party. But there’s still one lonely Corona left in the fridge the morning-after. Let’s slam it, shall we?! That’s kind of a metaphor for how this breakfast came together. I had a hodgepodge of fresh mexican-style ingredients in the fridge and no where else to use them. Sure, I could have made a salsa, but we’ve been there and done that this week. So, I turned breakfast into a fiesta. Hangover cure? I’m not so sure, but still a fun way to start the day.
Fresh and cheap vegetables… it’s one of the many reasons I love this time of year. It’s definitely avocado season. I remember passing by the bin in the winter and seeing 2 for $5 signs. Who do you think I am? Bill Gates? The Trumpster? No way I’m paying that much for something the size of my fist. These days, you can get 1 for a buck, sometimes 2 if you’re lucky and if the avocados are over-ripe. That’s what I’m talking about! Since prices have come down, I’ve been experimenting with the buttery, melt-in-your-mouth… um… fruit? vegetable? Ah, who cares… food! Mostly, I’ve been making different kinds of salads, but one morning I decided to see what they tasted like with eggs. I’m beginning to think they taste good with anything! I was surprised because I don’t like eggs and salsa, but this had a different texture.
How do you incorporate avocados into your diet?
INGREDIENTS
(EGGS FOR ONE)
2 eggs
1/2 tomato diced
1/2 avocado diced
1/4 cup fresh grated havarti cheese (you could also use shredded mexican-blend cheese)
Cilantro
Salt
Pepper
PREP
1. Heat tomatoes and avocado in non-stick pan 3 minutes (until tomatoes start to soften, but don’t let them get soggy!)
2. Whisk eggs, salt and pepper in separate bowl, then add to pan on medium low to medium heat.
3. Once eggs start to come together, add cheese to the mixture.
4. Fold mixture together until eggs solidify.
5. Add chopped cilantro to eggs, and fold a few more times (don’t burn the eggs!)
6. Scoop scramble onto plate and… Enjoy!
10. Face Wrinkles! They may be number 10, but they’re actually one of my favorite features. I honestly couldn’t think of a better place to start. A bulldog just wouldn’t be a bulldog with out that scrunchy, smooshy, adorable face. No Olay or Cindy Crawford Meaningful Beauty needed here!
9. The Overbite! “Grrrrr, I look mean, but I’m really a big baby.” Rosie can make some people so uncomfortable in the elevator… If they only knew how scared and skiddish she really is.
8. Farting. No dancing around it, these dogs can let em rip! Loud and stinky, silent but deadly… You wouldn’t believe how gassy they are! It may be extremely unladylike, but it makes me giggle every time. Plus, you can always “blame it on the dog.”
7. Big Bellies. These stumpy dogs are short, fat, and they are built SOLID. Lord have mercy, lifting one can be equated to lifting a bag of fertilizer. Unless you’ve got some muscle, you’re not going far. She looks like a turkey ready to be suffed when she lays on her back!
6. Snorting and Snoring. Not so cute when you’re trying to fall asleep or take a road trip in the car, but I fall in love when she’s having a dream or is sleeping hard on the couch.
5. Lazy. All I have to say is, thank goodness we don’t have a hyper dog that needs constant stimulation. My husband and I can be major couch potatoes and that’s just fine by Rosie.
4. Going For a Ride. You would think you had just asked her if she wanted a king-sized steak. She starts running around the house, snorting and slobbering. She gets so excited that she wags her whole butt because her tail is tucked in like a corkscrew!
3. Drool. Is that a faucet or your mouth? When it’s dinner time or treat time, the slobber comes pouring out of her overbite in a stream of gooey, stringy drool. There’s no fighting it: The carpet will get wet and gross! Pavlov’s dogs ain’t got nothing on this lady. Bonus: slobbery kisses are the best!
2. Hopping. My dog is part canine, part bunny. When it’s time to go out she hops around the house from her front legs to her back legs. It’s so stinking cute.
And the number one joy of owning a bulldog:
1. Taking a Snooze Together. Yes, I spoon my bulldog when she’s not too squirmy. I’m not ashamed to admit it. We like to take naps together when the sunshine hits the couch just right. It’s my favorite part of the day and a treasured memory I’ll keep when she’s gone.
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Paws and Pours
As you’re probably well aware by now, some of my passions in life are food, wine and animals. This week I was excited to take part in a fun fundraiser for an organization that means so much to me, The Seattle Animal Shelter.
I volunteer for the group walking dogs every week, and they had a great event on Thursday called “Paws and Pours,” it was a wine and appetizer tasting in the ballroom at the Wine World Warehouse in Seattle.
Sparkling Wine Table
About eight local wineries came to offer wine tastings. You could visit the different tables and fill up your glass, trying out the different varieties. Thanks to a recent wine tasting lesson, Joe and I were ready to take on the cabs, merlots and blends… and really appreciate each one.
For more on Wine 101 click here!
Brochures on the tables had stories about the animals in the shelters, those who have been rescued, and those who have survived because of the work the shelter does. One of my favorite dogs was actually featured on the cards, Wiggles, a happy pitt-mix (I think) who loves to play fetch to a fault. Nothing can stop her, not even a leg injury, which she had corrected thanks to the shelter!
In thanks and appreciation to everyone who helped make this event such a success, I’d like to share with you some of the wineries that participated. I’ve starred my favorite wines of the night. I encourage you to give them a try!!!
Animale
Bartholomew
Kestrel
**Laurelhurst Cellars (they had an amazing red wine blend)
Matthews
NW Wine Academy
Pandora Cellars
**Treveri (a stellar Riesling sparkling wine)
Wine World Warehouse - University District
Chicken Tamale Casserole
Epic love, Latin vibes and one HOT tamale (casserole). We took it there for our May book club: Cinqo de Mayo style.
I’m so happy to share this one with you. Everything tied in so beautifully… from the book, to the meal, right down to the Red Wine Sangria. (By the way, I wanted seconds, and thirds and leftovers of everything.) Our book selection was the epic love story “Love in the Time of Cholera.” It tells the story of a Latin man’s lifelong desire and journey to be with the woman he’s loved since he was young. Years turn into decades, yet he holds on to the idea that love will always connect us no matter how much time passes or how much you deny it.
Amazing does not begin to describe our book club meal. There is one thing you need to know about me: I love tamales. I always have since I had my first “real” tamale along the river walk in San Antonio. Problem is, they are so darn hard to make. Who is really gonna buy banana leaves to make them at home? Your only options are to buy them sub-par in the store, or find an authentic Mexican restaurant, right? Hold the train. Our friend Erin found a casserole recipe that will completely fool you in to thinking you’re eating a real tamale. The same flavors, but no complicated tamale-making process! Wrap me up in a banana leaf… I’m in LOVE! It’s also a great recipe for your Cinqo de Mayo parties this weekend.
Chicken Tamale Pie
Courtesy, Erin Johnson
INGREDIENTS
⅓ cup of milk
1 egg
1 ½ tablespoons of taco seasoning
¼ teaspoon of ground cumin
1 14 ¾ ounce can of cream style corn
1 box of Jiffy cornbread muffin mix
1 4 ounce can chopped green chiles
1 10 ounce can of red enchilada sauce
2 cups of shredded cooked chicken breast
¾ cup of shredded cheese (white cheese)
cilantro and crumbled Cotija cheese for topping
PREP
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine the first 7 ingredients (milk through green chiles) using only ½ tablespoon of taco seasoning, in a large bowl stirring until just moist. Pour into a round pie plate coated with cooking spray.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes. While corn is baking toss the chicken breast with 1 tablespoon of taco seasoning.
4. When corn is done baking it will be just barely set and golden brown. Liberally piece the entire top with a fork. Pour enchilada sauce over the top, layer on the chicken and sprinkle the top with the cheese. Bake for 15 minutes until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let it set for 5 minutes. Sprinkle top with cilantro and Cotija cheese. Cut into 8 pieces and serve.
If you want to check out the book you can buy it through Amazon here:
Strawberry, Banana and Nutella Crepes
I have become a Creped Crusader ever since I bought a jar of Nutella last week. To say I’ve been craving these crepes would be an understatement! However, a big challenge stood between me and the first bite of those gooey, fruity bundles of goodness: my fear of flipping! That’s right, I can not flip food. Eggs, omlettes, pancakes… the list goes on. Whatever I flip ends up broken and looking downright ugly. This morning, I decided I had to get over my fear if I wanted to treat myself for working yet another weekend. So here it is: the good, the bad, and the ugly of my crepe-making adventure.
Good Crepe
Ugly Crepe
Here you can see why I was so concerned about attempting the art of crepery. Take a look at crepe #1 below there. Yeeeaaaahhhh. This breakfast got messy quickly. I tried flipping the crepe too early and the sides of it started to tear. Onward and Upward! My second attempt turned out much better. You can see it on the right. My masterpiece! I realized it just takes a little practice to get it right.
With the hard stuff out of the way, I could focus on getting my filling ready. Sliced strawberries, bananas and the star of the show: Nutella! (You could really add any fresh fruit you like!!)
Crepe Batter
Here’s a look at the batter I made. So simple! Only 4 ingredients: egg, flour, browned butter and milk!
Then you just toss your filling material into the center of your crepe….
And wrap it up. Even the messiest crepe looks delicious and flawless once you get it all tucked in!
Time to “TREAT YO’ SELF!!!!”
CREPES FOR TWO
(makes 3)
INGREDIENTS
For crepes:
1 egg
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of flour
1 tablespoon of butter browned
Pinch of salt
For filling:
Sliced strawberries, banana, nutella
Powdered Sugar (optional)
PREP:
1. Melt butter in sauce pan until it’s lightly browned.
2. Mix egg and milk in a small mixing bowl
3. Add flour and salt to batter. Mix until the clumps are gone. Then add melted butter and mix well.
4. Heat a non-stick pan (I still added a little cooking spray to make sure batter wouldn’t brown.)
5. Scoop a quarter cup of batter and add to pan, then swirl the batter around until the batter coats the entire bottom of your pan. You want your crepes to be thin!
6. Cook batter on one side for 2-3 minutes. When your crepe is no longer runny, but solid, use a spatula to help you flip it to the other side and let it cook another 2 minutes or so.
7. Remove your finished crepe from the pan.
8. Use a spatula to spread a thin layer of Nutella on one side of crepe – A little goes a long way, you only need 1 tablespoon!
9. Top Nutella with fresh fruit and wrap sides into a “taco.”
10. Top crepe with powdered sugar if you wish.
11. Treat yo’ self to some crepe goodness!
Finished Product!
In the last two years, Rosie has moved from the quite literal jungle of Florida to the urban jungle that is Seattle.
It actually took a lot of getting used to.
CON: Instead of having plenty of places to take a snooze in our two bedroom/two bath, we’re a little cramped in our one bedroom/one bath.
PRO: More opportunities to snuggle!
CON: Instead of having a huge courtyard to run around in, we have a small patch of grass to, ahem, do the dooty.
PRO: There’s a lot more foot traffic along our busy road… More people to stop and scratch Rosie’s ears!
CON: We live on the 9th floor and Rosie had to learn how to take the elevator.
PRO: Rosie loves meeting new people in the elevator!
All in all, Rosie made the transition from Florida dog to Urban dog like a champ!
