the great food blogger cookie swap 2012: soft molasses cookies

Getting Christmas cookies in the mail is enough to make any day bright. Swap cookies with food bloggers from across the country? Yes, please.

Unlike last year, this year's cookie swap required me to specify my newly discovered food intolerance: soy. Not only were my cookie swap matches soy-free - but they were also nut-free, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free. Whaaaat?

I diligently did my research, hit the health food store for specialty ingredients, and embarked on what felt more like a science experiment than baking. Being new to the specialty baking scene, I doubted that any cookies I made meeting these requirements would be tasty. Boy, was I wrong. These soft molasses cookies from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen were so delicious you would never know they met all these requirements. Even my dad approved these tasty treats.


Soft Molasses Cookies (from the Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen)

2 cups sorghum flour
½ cup tapioca flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
¾ cup organic palm shortening
1 cup Sucanat, coconut sugar, or brown sugar
½ cup blackstrap molasses (this is key)
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds

To start, make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature; especially your applesauce.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the sorghum flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, xanthan gum, sea salt, cinnamon, and ginger. 

In a separate mixing bowl, beat the palm shortening, sugar, and molasses together with an electric mixer. Add the applesauce, vanilla, and ground flax seeds; beat for another 60 seconds.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and beat together. Continue to beat for another minute or until the ingredients are well-combined and the dough thickens.

Cover bowl with a plate and chill dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a large cookie sheet.

Remove bowl from refrigerator and form dough into little balls with the palms of your hands. Place each ball on the greased cookie sheet spaced out by about 2 inches.

Bake for approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.


And what did I get in return? Absolutely delicious Maple Meringues from Sara @The Little Bite and drool-worthy  Double Chocolate Cranberry Noel Cookies from Sara @Pidge's Pantry. Thanks ladies!

what i ate wednesday: issue 61

My post for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012 will be posted later today, but in the meantime - I couldn't resist fitting in my weekly WIAW post. Enjoy.

 Figure 1. Breakfast: a bowl of Kellogg's All Bran, Arrowhead Mills puffed wheat, cocoa powder, a sliced banana, and almond + cow milk. Cocoa powder in cereal is amazing.

Figure 2. Mid-morning snack: Ezekiel Sprouted Grains toast with peanut butter.

Figure 3. Lunch (out to eat): a huge spinach salad with blue cheese, walnuts, green apples, and turkey bacon. A slice of house-made whole wheat bread on the side.

Figure 4. Afternoon snack: an apple, yo.

Figure 5. Dinner: leftover broccoli-spinach soup, Ezekiel Sprouted Grain toast with avocado and kosher salt, and leftover sweet potato-apple mash topped with slivered almonds and a drizzle of honey.

Figure 6. Dessert: a soy- and gluten-free double chocolate cranberry cookie from Sara @ Pidge's Pantry I received for the cookie swap. These.are.amazing.

And that concludes another What I Ate Wednesday (featuring what I ate Tuesday, December 11).

my less serious day: soul mate

I was at this Christmas party Saturday night and had spent 3 solid hours packing away creamy sausage dip, piles of baked brie, and glasses of red wine. I was just about to succumb to another drink when my boyfriend turned to me and said, "Hey, you want to get out of here and go get some broccoli?"

Soul mate.
 

Wearing.

Jeans: GAP; top & belt: Loft; necklace: Talbots; pumps: Miz Mooz.

Doing.

Over lunch, I attended a 60-minute Body Pump class. After work, I went back to the gym for a 60-minute Zumba class. Life has interrupted my workouts lately and I hadn't been to the gym in an entire week - so going twice in one day seemed like a good solution today.

Eating.

Breakfast was a bowl of Kellogg's All Bran, Arrowhead Puffed Wheat, cocoa powder, a banana, and a combination of cow and almond milk.I also had a oatmeal peanut butter ball as a morning snack.

Lunch was a spinach salad topped with fresh parsley, grape tomatoes, carrots, slivered almonds, an Amy's Sonoma burger, and cottage cheese. I topped this salad with salt, pepper, Italian seasonings, balsamic vinegar, and ketchup. I had an apple and almonds for afternoon snack.

Dinner was roasted eggplant, broccoli, and red pepper tossed with a Trader Joe's Chicken sausage alongside wild mushroom couscous (Near East).

Dessert: Chocolate Chex for the win.

Note: this post represents what happened in my world on Monday, December 10. 

weekend review: back to normal

Thank you everyone for all of your support given my last post. Everything is back to normal, which, in part, means delicious healthy meals made by yours truly. Happy Monday.

Figure 1. In preparation: butternut squash mac and cheese with caramelized onions, bacon, and apple.

Figure 2. Friday night's dinner: butternut squash mac and cheese with caramelized onions, bacon, and apple (9.5/10; out of all the pumpkin/butternut squash creamy pasta dishes I have made, this one is the best. Hands down) and a spinach salad.

Figure 3. Saturday night's dinner: broccoli-spinach soup (7/10) with a whole-wheat English muffin with melty sharp cheddar cheese. After a day of back-to-back Christmas parties filled with cheese and dips and wine - coming back to a big bowl of healthy soup was just what I needed.

Figure 4. Sunday night's dinner: maple glazed grilled chicken drumsticks (7/10), roasted sweet potato and apple mash (8/10), and balsamic roasted Brussels sprouts (6/10). Yum.

an explanation

Your world can crash in an instant. Just as suddenly - it can be restored.

I've been busy with world crashing and subsequent restoration - please excuse my blogging absence. I truly appreciate all of my faithful blog readers, but there are so many more important things in life - like family and love.

See you Monday.

-Sara-

the salad dressing experiment: tahini goddess dressing

Next up in the salad dressing experiment is this creamy, dreamy tahini goddess dressing.

This dressing will satisfy your craving for a creamy-based topping in a healthy and protein-packed way. All you need are some basic ingredients and a blender. Originally, I served this dressing with a simple spinach lettuce salad alongside vegetarian-based pizza. I figure the tahini gave this meal a needed extra hit of protein and healthy fats.

Ingredient line-up: apple cider vinegar, tahini, olive oil, coconut aminos (feel free to use soy sauce), garlic powder, dried parsley, and lemons.

Into the blender goes the tahini.

In goes the olive oil.

All the ingredients get tossed inside the blender.

Blend it up!

Ready for consumption.

Tahini Goddess Dressing (original recipe here)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup tahini
1/2-1 cup water (depends on how thick you want it, I used 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup olive oil
5-6 T fresh lemon juice
2-3 T apple cider vinegar
2 T coconut aminos or soy sauce
2 T dried (or fresh) parsley
1/4 t garlic powder

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend away! Enjoy.

weekend review: sometimes you just need pizza

 Figure 1. Saturday night's dinner: chicken picatta (8/10), orzo with lemon rind, and roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon, shallots, and garlic (8/10).

Figure 2. Sunday morning baking: chocolate chip protein bars (5/10; the taste of these is pretty good, but I couldn't get them out of the pan in one piece. For 100 calories and 8 grams of protein each - I ate them out of the baking sheet with a spoon - worth it.).

Figure 3. Sunday morning Food Blogger Cookie Swap cookie packaging! Stay tuned for the recipe and cookie photos!

Figure 4. Sunday night's dinner: fennel sausage and roasted pepper pizza and a spinach salad with toasted pecans, feta cheese, dried cranberries, and a homemade maple vinaigrette (8/10). I gave up on my plans of making an involved Sunday night dinner when faced with an insatiable last minute pizza and beer craving. Enter: frozen pizza. The frozen pizza from Target may be soy-free, but it is not good. I ate it (I mean who throws away perfectly good pizza), but won't be going back for the leftovers. The beer (and salad, obviously) on the other hand, was quite delicious.